As the world becomes more connected there is a growing concern for ones virtual privacy and safety. Recently companies have been pressured to be more transparent in what information they collect and sell to advertisers. Today, at WWDC 2020, Apple has made it very clear where they stand and the steps they are taking to insure privacy for the user. Apple’s executive; Craig Federighi, SVP of Software Engineering, has called privacy “A fundamental human right” and explained the ways Apple is holding up their privacy standards.
At the Keynote, Craig Federighi throughly explained the over arching way that Apple minimizes their data collection by a method named, “On-device intelligence” where Apple’s devices process your information directly on your device rather than having your information sent to them. Furthermore, Apple explained the ways that new software features coming soon will allow users to feel more at ease when it comes to their data.
The listed ways which privacy is implemented in their ecosystem are:
- Sign in with Apple
- A feature which allows users to hide their iCloud email and use Apple’s keychain feature to create an account. This allows users to not only have a secure long password but also an anonymous email that forwards app messages to your person email.
- With iOS 14 users will now be able to switch your previous account to a Sign in with Apple profile.
- Location Data Protection
- Users will now be able to select wether to share your approximate location rather than your precise location.
- Recording Indicator
- If an app is using your camera or microphone, then an orange indicator light will appear near the top of the app notifying you of their use.
- Tracking Control Protection
- Apple is now enforcing that apps to notify you before tracking across websites owned by others to prevent your information being sold.
- App Privacy
- Directly on the App Store, apps will require each developer to show what types of data they are gathering and where it is going. Furthermore allowing you to see what apps are doing with your sensitive data.
All of these features demonstrates Apple’s seriousness in privacy and their commitment for pushing developers to be honest with customers. All of these features will be coming to the Apple ecosystem this fall for the public.
