this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2026
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I’m going to need a source on Apple selling your data. Just one source is fine. They do push themselves as security focused, and they are very overpriced for what you’re getting. But I haven’t seen any news or sources of them actually breaking any of their privacy promises. They did give anonymized audio data to a third party contractor to quality grade their “hey siri” detection but this is something the user has to opt into. They have a better track record than Google, and back in 2009 when I was getting into smart phones, those were the only two options.
Totally understandable, and yes, Apple does have a better track record with consumer/customer data. They've pushed really hard to hang on directly to user data since they have their own ad platform now. They gather the same types of data that Google does, and Google goes to extra lengths to get even more. I get that.
I think it's the verbiage I don't trust in some of their privacy policy:
Apple may share personal data with Apple-affiliated companies, service providers who act on our behalf, our partners, developers, and publishers, or others at your direction. Further, Apple does not share personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes."
So data IS shared, but not allowed to be used for marketing purposes, so it sounds great at face value, but they leave out what's allowed... Again Apple has their own ad platform.
Apple’s websites, online services, interactive applications, and advertisements may use “cookies” and other technologies such as web beacons.
While they allow you to disable cookies, there's still other tech at work... It later says:
I just don't fully trust it. Apple has A VERY large legal team and they certainly have better wording to sound super great!! They do offer better privacy out of the box and settings to lock down or opt out, yes, 100%. But they do admit several times data is shared, be it personal or non-personal (anonymized).
They also allow Google to still remain the default search engine (for $12b) which then for millions of people all that data is gathered... And you KNOW Apple gets a slice of that data... So while Apple appears to take the high road on this one, I think they're far from innocent. They're allowing other companies to do the legwork for your data while maintaining its "pure" view. inserts Clever_girl.gif
Anyway, sources: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/
https://fossbytes.com/apple-data-collection-explained/
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-privacy-data-collection/
The gist: data is gathered, data is shared, days is allowed to be stored with 3rd parties "until they're done with it" just don't use it for marketing, that's our space, etc.. They've come a long way, but far from innocent!