If you think you’re protecting your data, think again.
Experts have warned that keeping your data hidden from Apple is “virtually impossible.”
Despite the slogan, “Privacy. That’s Apple,” new research from Finland’s Aalto University suggests that the default apps on an iPhone, iPad and MacBook collect personal data — even when they appear to be disabled, South West News Service reported.
Many previous studies have shown how voluntary third-party apps invade people’s privacy, but this was the first to investigate the privacy settings of the default apps that are pretty much unavoidable on a new Apple device.
“We focused on apps that are an integral part of the platform and ecosystem. These apps are glued to the platform, and getting rid of them is virtually impossible,” Associate Professor Janne Lindqvist, head of the computer science department at Aalto, said in a statement.
Researchers analyzed eight apps: Safari, Siri, Family Sharing, iMessage, FaceTime, Location Services, Find My and Touch ID.
After collecting all publicly available privacy-related information on these apps, even the researchers were surprised to see the fragility of privacy protections, according to SWNS.
“Due to the way the user interface is designed, users don’t know what is going on,” Lindqvist explained.
“For example, the user is given the option to enable or not enable Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant. But enabling only refers to whether you use Siri’s voice control. Siri collects data in the background from other apps you use, regardless of your choice, unless you understand how to go into the settings and specifically change that.”
They claimed that properly protecting your privacy on an Apple device would require persistence and expert knowledge — and Apple provides “no clear direction.”
“The online instructions for restricting data access are very complex and confusing, and the steps required are scattered in different places,” Amel Bourdoucen, a doctoral researcher at Aalto, said.
To demonstrate, the researchers interviewed users and asked them to change the privacy settings — and “it turned out that the participants weren’t able to prevent any of the apps from sharing their data with other applications or the service provider,” Bourdoucen said.
Bourdoucen explained that participants were able to take one or two steps in the right direction toward protecting their privacy on these default apps, but none succeeded in getting through the whole procedure.
Researchers said it’s not possible to be sure what exactly Apple does with all the data, but Lindqvist said it is possible to conclude that it will be used to train the AI system behind Siri and personalized experiences.
The study, which will be presented in mid-May at the prestigious CHI conference, details a number of suggestions for Apple to clarify privacy settings and improve guidelines.
Opting for third-party apps — such as Firefox instead of Safari — is one suggestion researchers have for users.