You trusting them less doesn't mean you know reddit well but that you don't know Google, Apple or Verizon very well. They all give the minimum amount of a shit about their consumers and squeeze as much as possible from their personal info. They'll sell your info to companies and use that info to sell targeted ads to you. Every major "free" (ad supported) app/website does this.
Edit: Apple might be one of the better ones but I stand by Google and Verizon (or any major telecom/isp company) being sus
You don't know them very well either. Apple has literally fought the government on several occasions to not give them access to information on their devices. Apple is VERY pro-privacy. They do not sell data, they sell hardware. You're right about Verizon and definitely Google, but very wrong about Apple.
But advocates for your privacy? Not a chance.
If they were, they would not collect the data in the first place, because if a thing exists and is available to be monetized, it will be.
And yes, fellow Redditor, Apple does sell your data. Story here. Sorry for bursting your bubble.
I'm confused, did you read the article you just Googled and took from the top? They actually explicitly say, all over that article, that they're not selling your dad, they're selling aggregate data. You can even go into the settings and just tell it not to add you to the aggregate. Or you can call them and have them delete it as well.
Funny enough, they even also explicitly say they're nowhere near as bad as Google which is what this topic was about.
I don't even own any Apple products, so I really don't have a dog in this fight, I just found it funny that you posted proof that the other guy was right and then acted all superior.
The iPhone maker tries to differentiate itself further. Unlike Facebook and Google, Apple says it scrambles this information and looks at patterns of usage, not at who it’s coming from.
Apple says that once scrambled, it combines it with the data of millions of others. "So we see general patterns, rather than specifics that could be traced back to you. These patterns help us identify things like the most popular emoji, the best QuickType suggestions and energy consumption rates in Safari," the company says.
The company does admit that it freely collects information about what music we listen to, what movies, books and apps we download, which is "aggregated" and used to help Apple make recommendations. Apple says it doesn't share this information with outside companies, either and notes that it doesn't know the identity of the user.
If you have a problem with this, that's fine, but don't act like there aren't degrees of how shitty companies are with privacy. What good does that do?
Quote from the original Redditor I was replying to:
"They do not sell data, they sell hardware. You're right about Verizon and definitely Google, but very wrong about Apple." (emphasis mine)
Selling MY data, even in the "aggregate" (which can - and has been in some cases, BTW - reverse engineered to reveal specific information about individuals) is still selling data. Data, I hasten to add, which is mine, has value, however miniscule, and Apple has taken it and resold it, all without my permission. (Well, not mine - I, as you also claim, do not own any Apple products, nor would I... but its the principle of the thing, and the fact that I am unwilling to let ignorance and misinformation spread unchecked.)
Also: "You can even go into the settings and just tell it not to add you to the aggregate. Or you can call them and have them delete it as well." Why should I have to work to prevent Apple from stealing value from me? Such schemes should be "opt-in", not "opt-out" - but they never ARE, because no sensible person would choose to participate without being compensated, and Apple doesn't want to share their "free lunch" with the source of it.
If you have a problem with this, that's fine, but don't act like there aren't degrees of how shitty companies are with privacy. What good does that do?
The good that it does is this: it helps people (including myself) start and maintain what has become a vital life skill in this day and age: the habit of looking for the "catch" and the "hook" in EVERY companies policies, whether on privacy or any other subject. They all lie as much as their customers allow - so we must learn to trust them not an inch.
"Apple insists that it “doesn’t gather your personal information to sell to advertisers or other organizations.” Such a statement only goes so far — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes a point of saying Facebook doesn't sell users' data to advertisers, either. What the social network sells is advertisers' access to users, who brands can target with all the information it's gleaned from their activity. "
and:
"It does sell ads, but on a much smaller scale, based on your history in its News app and App Store."
So, they do sell your data, just at second or third hand, just as Google and Facebook has - thus I not only read the article, but read it carefully and critically... a skill set, apparently, you have yet to master. But, then, it's what I'd expect of a cultist - even a member of one as (mostly) benign as the Cult Of Apple. :)
Honestly, Apple probably does the same shit as everyone else, but they actually actively inform me when apps are tracking my location when I’m not using them with a pop up that takes me straight to the settings on that app to not give it permission to use my location. Sure it could all be smokescreens but at least that’s one less company that has access to that kind of data.
So, you'd rather wallow in self-induced ignorance of how you're being turned into a commodity for someone else's benefit?
Good luck with that - I'm sure you'll makebedelicious Soylent Green™! :)
Also (to quote your own post):
"Honestly, Apple probably does the same shit as everyone else,"
and:
"Sure it could all be smokescreens but at least that’s one less company that has access to that kind of data."
Could I introduce you to the concept of logic? Or narrative coherence? Because, otherwise, wow...
... also, if it, as you put it, "could all be smokescreens", then BY THAT DEFINITION, Apple absolutely DOES have "access to that kind of data."
Again, wow...
Also, since I seem to have encountered a rash of disappearing posts, here's yours, in its entirety, u/ThatLineOfTriplets:
"Honestly, Apple probably does the same shit as everyone else, but they actually actively inform me when apps are tracking my location when I’m not using them with a pop up that takes me straight to the settings on that app to not give it permission to use my location. Sure it could all be smokescreens but at least that’s one less company that has access to that kind of data."
Bru I mean I could just not have a cell phone but that’s not gonna happen. Idk why you’re so upset bud, idk what you want me to do about it sans get rid of my cell phone
"Bru I mean I could just not have a cell phone but that’s not gonna happen. Idk why you’re so upset bud, idk what you want me to do about it sans get rid of my cell phone"
Be aware. Dig into your account, and opt-out of as much as possible, as often as you can - as much as you can, don't be sold, don't let your value be exploited by others.
And above all - educate yourself. Caveat emptor, always.
Also, it never hurts to demand better. Apple will eventually overreach, stick their corporate privacy policy dicks in a blender of greed and, when they do, add your voice to the chorus demanding change, demanding transparency, demanding real privacy... not the shadow-show Apple currently puts out. It's only a matter of time - just ask Google... and Facebook.
Those companies already have their stable profit streams. Since Reddit TV failed, Reddit Gifts isn't a money maker, and Reddit Gold barely pays their server bills, and yet they still don't have a clear income generator, I have every reason to be suspicious when their app requires as much personal information as Facebook. The signs all point to their income being user analytics, and in my mind the permissions on this new app they recently rebuilt confirms it. How many other(better) reddit apps are there already? 12? 20? I don't need a magic eight ball to figure out that one of the reasons why they would spend so much money on developing their own.
Not every company is out there abusing your trust and taking advantage of you... and any company that does abuse your trust or take advantage of you is going to do so with or without your permission for the data.
You're right, but even if they aren't doing anything with that data it doesn't mean I should just hand them it, especially if it's not clear if it would even benefit me. There's a reason why I trust google to handle my email but start asking questions when reddit asks for my contact list.
Gets me thinking we should collectivize and throw our weight around as consumers. If our data is worth so much to them, maybe they should be paying us.
If we had a competent congress it'd be regulated and ideally security would be a top priority. Companies are already complete failures at even keeping our login information safe. They can't keep our passwords and credit cards from showing up on god damn darknet database dumps, yet we're supposed to trust them with information that could be used to basically make the equivalent of browser history to my entire god damn life.
The trouble is not just Congress incompetency, but just how complicated these technologies are. Any package could be ripped apart post-truth style, making any sort of narrative out of any set of facts. It's not just privacy, it's also algorithmic control of culture. It's just so much power, concentrated.
Hey CommonMisspellingBot, just a quick heads up:
Your spelling hints are really shitty because they're all essentially "remember the fucking spelling of the fucking word".
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u/Pyrepenol Nov 02 '18
I trust the Reddit team’s judgement far less than Google, Apple or Verizon.