Apple says its iPhones are the most privacy-focused devices out there and it conveyed that message through a short video on YouTube that has been watched over 28 million times in just a month. There's little to doubt Apple's claims as it has time and again showed that nothing matters more than users' privacy on its iOS platform. What if that bold claim is not quite right?
The video we are talking about here is titled "Privacy on iPhone – Private Side" and it precisely summarises just how much privacy matters to people. Towards the end of the video, it says, "If privacy matters in your life, it should matter to the phone your life is on." Finally, the video concludes by saying: "Privacy. That's iPhone."
Apple clearly couldn't have put it better. All those brilliant features of closed-loop iOS, end-to-end encryption on iMessage and anti-tracking feature in Safari browser stand in justification of Apple's privacy mantra. But the folks at Mozilla found some discrepancies in Apple's bold "privacy" claims.
According to Mozilla, iPhones have a unique ID, supposedly called "identifier for advertisers" or IDFA, which allows advertisers to track users to a worrying extent. "It's like a salesperson following you from store to store while you shop and recording each thing you look at. Not very private at all," Mozilla said in a blog posted on Monday.
Mozilla also has a petition asking Apple to change the unique IDs on its iPhones every month so it would become harder for advertisers to track users. According to the report, advertisers, using the unique ID on the iPhone, can track the ads users click on, the videos they play and also the apps they install.
As it appears, Apple is aware of the feature that is turned on by default. But as Mozilla points out, most users are not even aware of its existence. So if you have never toggled into the phone's settings to disable the "internet-based ads" in order to limit ad tracking, you're not alone. Whether or not Apple will comply with Mozilla's request is another story, but users can go to settings and turn off Apple's location-based ads on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
How to stop advertisers from tracking you?
Step 1: Go to Settings > Privacy > Advertising
Step 2: Turn on Limit Ad Tracking
Then move on to turning off location-based ads.
Step 1: Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > System Services
Step 2: Turn off Location-Based Apple Ads
