Former Apple engineer says it is pointless to ask iPhone apps not to track you | TechTree.com

Former Apple engineer says it is pointless to ask iPhone apps not to track you

Apple's “Ask App Not To Track" button is nothing but a “dud” that gives users “a false sense of privacy.”

 

  1. Apple introduced a privacy feature that enables users to request apps not to track their data.

  1. But a new study finds that certain iPhone apps still collect user data - even after they're asked not to

  1. “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.” Is a lie by Apple, a former employee says

Johnny Lin, co-founder of software company Lockdown Privacy and former Apple engineer, says Apple's “Ask App Not To Track" button is nothing but a “dud” that gives users “a false sense of privacy.”

Even if users ask apps not to track and collect their activity across other companies' apps and websites, popular iPhone apps like Subway Surfers still collect personal data, Lockdown Privacy has determined in a new study.

"We found that App Tracking Transparency made no difference in the total number of active third-party trackers," the study says. "We further confirmed that detailed personal or device data was being sent to trackers in almost all cases."

Sybo, the company that created Subway Surfers, says that "in order for the game to function properly, some data is communicated to Ad Networks," But there is no explanation as to why personal information was required to play a game. "As a company, we do not track users for advertising purposes without their consent." Sybo said.

"When the user selects 'Ask App Not to Track,' the app is informed that the user would not like to be tracked by any means, and all developers - including Apple - are strictly required to comply with the user's choice," an Apple spokesperson told Insider. "If we discover that a developer is not honoring the user's choice, we will work with the developer to address the issue, or they will be removed from the App Store."

Lockdown Privacy's findings go against Apple's privacy-focused marketing campaigns, highlighted in billboards in Las Vegas that read: ‘What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.’

The ad is clearly misleading, says critics. The data users generate on their iPhones does not stay on their devices. iPhones routinely send data to app developers, websites, wireless carriers, and to Apple's own secret servers. What happens on your iPhone clearly does not stay on your iPhone.


TAGS: Apple

 
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