this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2025
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Privacy
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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
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Not on Android. People love to stan for Android because "it's open source," but Android would have gone nowhere if Google didn't buy it, and Google wouldn't have bought it if they weren't convinced it would let them scrape more personal data than Gmail. (And Andy Rubin made Android because he heard Steve Jobs say the iPhone would run OS X, and he thought he could probably whip up a Linux distro to run on a phone.)
You could get an iPhone and not run any apps by Google, Meta, Microsoft, X, or any of the other privacy-opposed companies. You'd also better change the default search off of Google. DuckDuckGo is an option. Ecosia might be. Not sure. The issue is, while Apple says they're all about privacy, that's based on them being a computer/hardware company first (and Google being a data company first). However, Apple is heavily leaning into services now — Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+, and more — and there are rumors they want their own search engine. So while Apple may be privacy strong now, you don't know what they'll be a year from now, or three, or five.
It's like Tim Cook (Apple CEO) said about Facebook when they introduced the tracking limiter. "You can still give Facebook permission to track you all over the web, they just gotta get your permission first." That's true of privacy. You can still use Google, Meta, Microsoft, X, TikTok, and other privacy-violating companies' products, but what you share is entirely up to you. You can use some of those services in Safari and block some tracking, or you can install the apps and allow it all. It's up to you.
Or, you can buy a Pixel and reward Google's business model, and put GrapheneOS on it. That is probably better, privacy-wise, than using an iPhone. But you're still rewarding Google's business model. And if they're making so much money off your data that opting out isn't even an option, why does the Pixel cost the same the iPhone does (and more, considering the Pixel Fold)? You are getting more RAM, but RAM is cheap. You're not getting a better processor — Apple has won that race for years. Camera tech is about 50/50. Screen is up in the air — I think Apple's is better, but Google et al use higher resolutions. Apple buys from the same companies but screens are made to spec which is why Apple's are better than those by companies they buy from. Their spec is more demanding. "Good enough" is what passes in Android — it's like how iPhones use NVMe and Androids use UFS. NVMe is more expensive, and it's faster on paper, but in the real world? UFS is good enough. You wouldn't see a difference, or a significant one, in real world usage. So what are you paying for in a Pixel? The lower specs plus the privacy/data factor should make the Pixel significantly cheaper... except Google is a publicly traded company, so they can't sell it that low.
Apple may not be the best option, but they're advertising that they are (with regards to privacy). And I think they're trying. I'm not saying they're saints. They are doing better than Google though. And you have to decide if that's worth your money. And dealing with a crappy keyboard. The keyboard sucks.
Apple has a search engine, it’s just not publicly accessible. They’ve had a web crawler for many years and their internal search engine is likely what powers things like siri suggested sites and information for apple maps. It is correct they could enter the search and advertising game at any moment, though unlikely because it would destroy their brand integrity.
That said apple is no saint for privacy. For one they actively enable google; they take billions from google to fund safari development in exchange for prioritizing google as built in search and feeding google user data. For a company like Mozilla this is an ethical conundrum; without googles money they’d likely be done. For a company like apple it is inexcusable. the few billion, while a tremendous amount (I think 18 billion?) is a pittance to them.
Further to your point of “active permission” with the tracking limiter this is not always the case. Apple is aware and does not do anything to reform. Part of the reason companies want you to use their app on ios is because then you will be far more likely to open links via the in app browser, which is still safari/webkit, but now escapes sandboxing and allows for far more precise tracking and fingerprinting even if you utilize the tracking limitations built into ios.
Notice how only sketchy games with tons of blatant ads will prompt the “ask ad not to track” box. Instagram, twitter, youtube, reddit, etc generally don’t because they don’t need to track you through permitted routes. Apple has long been aware of this and continue to do nothing (forcing links to open in safari or another browser, limiting traffic on in app browsers, etc). Lord knows what other tricks scumbags like facebook have to circumvent systems and track everything you do. Apple is well aware it happens without user consent but tolerates it and then has the gall to say their hardware and software is “privacy oriented”
Yes, ironically I just read another article about how Facebook/Meta has gotten around the ATT (App Tracking thing, I forget what the other T stands for) with in-app browsers. The article's point was that all the beef between Apple and Meta is just for show and that they need each other like Apple and Google, Apple and Samsung, et al. So yeah, with you on that.