Despite its privacy policies and practices remaining unchanged, Apple has expanded its privacy website. It now includes in-depth explanations about what the company is doing to protect your privacy.
The new website, which was launched yesterday, forms part of the firm’s ongoing drive to set itself apart from advertising-fuelled competitors such as Facebook and Google.
The new site is for the biggest part a users’ manual, with detailed descriptions on how to prevent third-party services such as apps from tracking your online activities and your physical location without your knowledge.
The updated website also portrays Apple as the firm for people who are concerned about the way that their data is being used. It calls privacy a “fundamental human right”, saying that this is one of the company’s “core values”.
It goes on by stating something that we would obviously all agree with: “Your devices are important to so many parts of your life. What you share from those experiences, and who you share it with, should be up to you.”
Many of the privacy upgrades heralded in the new website were revealed earlier, when Apple launched iOS 13. These include the fact that you can now sign into third-party websites or apps with your Apple ID instead of Google’s or Facebook’s.
There are also additional warnings and notices when apps try to use your location data. Apple’s iOS 13 also prevents VoIP apps from running in the background when they are not used, so they can’t collect your data without your knowledge.
With the number of privacy breaches increasing nearly on a daily basis, and with consumers becoming more aware of the extent to which firms such as Facebook, Google and Apple collect their personal data, privacy has become a big selling point.
Despite being involved in quite a few privacy scandals in recent times, Apple has become surprisingly successful in portraying itself as a champion for consumer privacy.