iPhone Apps No Better For Privacy Than Android, Oxford Study Finds (tomsguide.com) 22
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Guide: A new survey has reached a startling conclusion: iPhone apps tend to violate your privacy just as often as Android apps do. "Overall, we find that neither platform is clearly better than the other for privacy across the dimensions we studied," say the academic paper entitled "Are iPhones Really Better for Privacy?" and presented by researchers from the University of Oxford. "While it has been argued that the choice of smartphone architecture might protect user privacy, no clear winner between iOS and Android emerges from our analysis," the paper adds. "Data sharing for tracking purposes was common on both platforms." There's one big caveat regarding the new study: It was conducted before the introduction of iOS 14.5 in April 2021, which made opt-in to tracking and app privacy labels mandatory on iPhones.
The researchers analyzed the code, permissions and network traffic of 12,000 randomly selected free apps from each platform that had been updated or released in 2018 or later. Each app was run on a real device, either a first-generation iPhone SE running iOS 14.2 or a Google Nexus 5 running Android 7 Nougat. They found that nearly all (89%) of the Android apps contained at least one tracking library, which was almost always Google Play Services. The numbers weren't much lower on iOS, where 79% of apps had at least one tracking library, most likely Apple's own SKADNetwork, which tracks which ads a user clicks on. However, 62% of iOS apps also ran Google's AdMob ad tracking library, followed by 54% of iOS apps (and 58% of Android apps) running Google Firebase. Facebook trackers were in 28% of Android apps and 26% of iOS ones. In fact, most apps on either platforms -- 90% of Android apps and more than 60% of iOS -- shared data with tracking companies owned by Google. Almost all tracking companies observed were based in the U.S. About 9.5% of iOS apps and 5% of Android ones used Chinese-based trackers; 7.5% of iOS apps and 2% of Android ones used Indian trackers. The team commended Apple for making it possible for iPhone users to block the temporary advertising IDs that flag your phone to advertisers, but the team also saw an ulterior motive on Apple's part. "Apple's crackdown on Ad ID use could be interpreted as an attempt to divert revenue from Google and other advertising providers, and motivate the use of alternative monetization models -- which are more lucrative for Apple," the Oxford research paper states. "Apple has arguably placed a larger emphasis on privacy, seeking to gain a competitive advantage by appealing to privacy-concerned consumers."
The researchers analyzed the code, permissions and network traffic of 12,000 randomly selected free apps from each platform that had been updated or released in 2018 or later. Each app was run on a real device, either a first-generation iPhone SE running iOS 14.2 or a Google Nexus 5 running Android 7 Nougat. They found that nearly all (89%) of the Android apps contained at least one tracking library, which was almost always Google Play Services. The numbers weren't much lower on iOS, where 79% of apps had at least one tracking library, most likely Apple's own SKADNetwork, which tracks which ads a user clicks on. However, 62% of iOS apps also ran Google's AdMob ad tracking library, followed by 54% of iOS apps (and 58% of Android apps) running Google Firebase. Facebook trackers were in 28% of Android apps and 26% of iOS ones. In fact, most apps on either platforms -- 90% of Android apps and more than 60% of iOS -- shared data with tracking companies owned by Google. Almost all tracking companies observed were based in the U.S. About 9.5% of iOS apps and 5% of Android ones used Chinese-based trackers; 7.5% of iOS apps and 2% of Android ones used Indian trackers. The team commended Apple for making it possible for iPhone users to block the temporary advertising IDs that flag your phone to advertisers, but the team also saw an ulterior motive on Apple's part. "Apple's crackdown on Ad ID use could be interpreted as an attempt to divert revenue from Google and other advertising providers, and motivate the use of alternative monetization models -- which are more lucrative for Apple," the Oxford research paper states. "Apple has arguably placed a larger emphasis on privacy, seeking to gain a competitive advantage by appealing to privacy-concerned consumers."
Re: Any surprise (Score:5, Funny)
The only people who ever thought otherwise are iMembers of the Church of Appletology.
Re: (Score:2)
Imagine somebody being a Google fan like that. You could make an Apple parody out of that because it would be so absurd. :)
Phone privacy is a myth (Score:4, Insightful)
If you treat them as devices intended to steal your information and avoid putting anything you want "safe" in them, you are better off. Less convenient, but less to lose control over.
Not Particularly Surprising (Score:3)
Burger King is no better than McDonald's
Coke is no better than Pepsi
"Team Blue" is no better than "Team Red"
Re: (Score:2)
Many of the popular apps work on both platforms, written by programmers if not in the same team then on the same floor of the same building.
Do people think that just because one is written in Swift and the other in Kotlin they don't share similar concepts of privacy and monetization?
Re: (Score:1)
Most of the time the problem is the layziness of the "prorgrammers" by includeing libs with all kinds of trackers (and worse).
Re: (Score:2)
This is the key point - the articles/papers appear to be talking only about the apps themselves. And although there are some controls implemented by the operating systems of modern phones, an invasive app can be written for IOS or Android.
I'm a long time Android user. I prefer the user experience of Android, and the ability to tinker/customise. Not to mention disliking Apple's approach to DIY repairs and proprietary connectors etc. But my next phone is likely to be an iPhone. A phone is capable of providing
Re: (Score:2)
False dichotomies are not better than no choice.
Especially if one "side" is called "literally Hitler" by the ones who want to rule over you.
I'm Not Following? (Score:2)
Apps with ads contain functions that allow those apps to ascertain whether you, in fact, clicked on those ads. ...news at 11?
Yes, I get that both platforms allow developers to track users between apps. It's certainly not great, but I'm not quite sure it's a privacy concern.
If I tap an ad for Apples in App 1, and App 2 starts showing me ads for Bananas, and App 3 shows me ads for Cherries...it's not my favorite, but that's at least based on ads I tapped.
If I write a friend an e-mail in App 1 about my affinit
Re: (Score:2)
It’s way more information than selling you ads. How long did the app use the screen for? What position was the phone in? Where is the phone located? Are you near a Walmart? Were you in Walmart and for how long? Did you search for anything while you were inside? What time are you going to bed? What time are you waking up? That’s just off the top of my head.
Why such an ancient version of Android? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Same as with using the old iOS... Maybe the study started quite some time ago?
Re: (Score:2)
Probably, which is why it is worthless. Things happen too quickly in computer land for such a long-running study to be of any value.
So why all the fuss then? (Score:3)
Facebook was making a big dog and pony show about iOS changes that disallowed tracking. And we have advertisers paying less for iOS users and investing more in Android tracking.
So what is it? The data they slurp up is the same therefore none have a privacy advantage, or because of iOS changes, the data is less useful and thus less valuable, thus giving a small privacy advantage?
Re:So why all the fuss then? (Score:5, Informative)
The study was conducted before those changes, so there’s been a privacy gain.
Wrong from the start (Score:3)
The phone has an Ad ID for you. The mere existence of such should tell you everything you need to know.
If the device knows what an ad is, the premises are wrong from the start.
Also, I believe focusing on the ads is a red herring. You *see* the ads, buy the gathered profiling and detail information about you can and will be used for other things.
Re: (Score:2)
We can start even earlier: There mere lack of the root password from the start, tells you everything you need to know.
Ditto for installing a different OS.
Oh good god... (Score:1)
this will hurt the feelings of hundreds of thousands of Apple fanboys all around the world...
Apple is all about APPLE's privacy. (Score:2)
Not about yours.
It only protects you, because it implies you have become part of its swarm body. You still have to fully submit yourself to Apple. (Or "get to", according to their fan base.)
It's simply a case of "Thou shalt have no other gods before me". It's got nothing to do with your privacy.