Apple markets the launch of its iPhones and other products with all kinds of privacy and security features, but some notable findings from a security researcher suggest the opposite is going on behind the scenes. It turns out Apple tracks user activity across the internet even if the setting is turned off.
App developers and security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry working for the software company Mysk have reported their findings on Twitter in a detailed thread. According to their report, Apple has recently made some changes to App Store ads that track every tap you make on the app, at least on iOS 14.6.
All the data is sent to Apple in one request, even when data usage and personalized ads are turned off.
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The recent changes that Apple has made to App Store ads should raise many #privacy concerns. It seems that the #AppStore app on iOS 14.6 sends every tap you make in the app to Apple.👇This data is sent in one request: (data usage & personalized ads are off)#CyberSecurity pic.twitter.com/1pYqdagi4e— Mysk 🇨🇦🇩🇪 (@mysk_co) November 3, 2022
As the user browses the App Store app, it sends detailed usage data to Apple at the same time. The data contains IDs so usage behavior can be matched with their profile. This is highly contradictory to the strict changes Apple made to iOS 14.5 to prevent developers from fingerprinting users.
The researchers note that even if the user has allowed apps to share analytics data with Apple, the level of details shared is too much.
It is unclear if Apple still collects this data in iOS 16, even with data collection and personalized ads turned off. Still, these findings are still highly concerning for a company that markets privacy quite prominently with all its products.
It comes as no surprise that Apple is getting into trouble for it as well. A class action lawsuit was filed against the Cupertino giant last week which claims that Apple’s actions violate the California Invasion of Privacy Act. It does not focus on the data Apple collects through its apps, but rather on the false sense of privacy from data collection settings that don’t change anything.
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