Talking Privacy with Apple - Are Your Secrets Safe?

[@Techninjaspeaks]

My brother, who is in law-enforcement once told me that if a criminal has an android, they’re very happy because they know they can get access to that device without a problem lol

[@Andru]

What did he say about iPhones? 👀

[@Madeintheshade65]

@@AndruRemember the San Bernardino shooter who had messages on his IPhone the FBI wanted to access they went to Apple to unlock his phone and Apple refused saying they couldn’t unlock it even if they could they wouldn’t FBI ended up using third party methods to unlock the shooter’s phone

[@westmcgee9320]

Did he call it “an android”?

[@tdrg_]

@@Madeintheshade65 this is how the Cellebrite’s reputation was born. It can’t hack into >=iPhone 12 running >=iOS 17.4

[@ThepurposeofTime]

M8.... it took me A VERY LONG TIME to get back into my own Apple account

[@nick_fitch]

PLEASE Clip the "Are You Listening to Me" chapter. Everyone needs to hear this. So sick of the "my phone is listening" argument.

[@Andru]

Oh I agree, that conspiracy has lasted a long time. I guess I can understand why though, most just don't realize all the other types of sophisticated tracking that goes on behind the scenes that make listening and processing your audio totally unnecessary!

[@alaish360]

It isn't iOS that is listening. It is the app that is listening without privacy controls to stop the listening. Many apps declare this requirement for use in the legal notices that few read. For example, Instagram microphone use toggle only applies to creating user generated content, but does not control listening for ad targeting purposes.

[@pczern8275]

Please provide sources @Andru, I think by the amount of people that make the observation that unrelated things they never talk about but once, suddenly appear on their phones is real. If it's disproven please show the proof.

[@tdrg_]

@@pczern8275I think you are experiencing the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon It’s when you think of something, and then suddenly start noticing that thing everywhere. In the case of “my phone is listening to me”, you might be thinking of a car, then you randomly get a car ad and you assume it’s because your phone listened to you. Now you’re more attuned to noticing car ads because you know you’ve thought about a car. All of this creates the illusion that your devices are somehow listening to you. This is just the psychological explanation. Then there’s the technical one, which is that your battery will evaporate if your phone was constantly listening on you and sending that to advertisers.

[@blizzunt420e]

@@Andru They think about it as a right that’s because it is a right and it’s crazy that our government hasn’t penalized every single company in the United States that somehow is allowed to withhold your constitutional rights even though those companies operate in the United States every time you try to post a comment on a website like Twitter or any other website and they delete your comments because they are deemed inappropriate or not allowed to be there how does that company have the right to censor you or to take your words away when we have a freedom of speech the fact that they are being allowed to censor our constitutional rights is sickening And it’s only right now that Apple is trying to jump on the privacy wagon because they realize how everyone is backpedaling on being so open with their lives .. people who say why do you need privacy? If you don’t have anything to hide the only thing I can say to that is you must be the kind of person that goes into a public bathroom and craps with the door wide open so everyone can see you and if you don’t, if you shut that door, then that privacy is the same privacy that you should have in your tech life whatever you type on your device should only be in your hands not some corporation. Any pictures you take should only be in your hands, not on the cloud server of some corporation.

[@aliettienne2907]

2:09 This privacy topic is never ending and this episode have started a feeling of reassurance to the minds of many listeners. As Apple took the initiative to remind or notify their customers of Apple concerns towards their privacy, it re-enforces the fact that Apple really do care about privacy issues. I like that those apps that access the mic and camera are visibly noticeable and identifiable to every users whenever the said app is actively using the mic or camera.

[@mrkring1526]

Not.if you get hacked by Pegasus

[@kenneththomsen8503]

Great interview! Both for people working with software privacy, and for people who are just interested in knowing what their Apple Device does with their data. This interview made me go through my privacy settings on all of my Apple devices, just to make sure that all the apps only have the permissions to access my data that I think they need! I've given waaaay too many apps full access to my photo library instead of limited access!

[@hazlikestech6498]

I’ve always found it sus that it says ‘ask app not to track’ rather than ‘do not allow app to track’. Are we just trusting all apps to respect our request due to tech limitations, and how can we be sure they are? And if so, is Apple being transparent enough about this limitation?

[@tdrg_]

It’s worded like this because App Tracking Transparency only denies apps access to an advertising identifier on your device, but they can still use IP, cookie, or other kinds of tracking via the Internet, platform which Apple cannot control. ATT makes it a bit harder to track users, but not impossible. That’s why it’s incorrect to say that the app doesn’t track you at all anymore after declining ATT prompts.

[@martindoyon6470]

Well conducted interview. Extremely interesting! Thanks Andru

[@Andru]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@devils13]

Do these privacy standards apply to Apple products in China?

[@Slimothy]

What do you think?

[@equivalentexchangeisalie5726]

Good one 😂😂😂

[@tdrg_]

Most privacy features work to protect against others, but not against the government.

[@tdrg_]

@KyLin-fy1zc Apple takes a different approach to privacy features in China. It protects data from, say, a hacker trying to breach your account, just like anywhere else. But all Chinese user data is stored on Chinese servers encrypted but the Chinese government has the key, and same for many privacy features like iCloud Private Relay, if available at all.

[@michaelbaines]

In some responses, they answered like politicians, saying a lot but not actually answering the questions. For instance, when asked about abiding to laws in other countries, they completely avoided the question. Despite this, their insights are ahead of the crowd in terms of security and privacy, though they could use a bit more finesse.

[@tdrg_]

I’m gonna give the straight answer for you: in every country where a business operates, it must respect local laws. That means Apple’s privacy features are reduced in China, let’s say.

[@kael13]

@@tdrg_ Or yknow.. the US if the NSA comes knocking.

[@tdrg_]

@@kael13 Technically speaking. Local laws do not allow the NSA to inspect user’s accounts without warrants, nor do they prevent users from using security and privacy measures to limit their exposure

[@AndyRollinssnillor]

Thanks!

[@xxnike0629xx]

As great as all of this is, I think the important thing is seeing what Apple actually does; not what they advertise and market.

[@tdrg_]

And how exactly do we see that?

[@ReviewswBryz]

I loved this interview ❤

[@Byte_J]

Nice job. This was a good interview with some solid questions.

[@beantkaur2551]

So this means grapheneos is way to go 😂

[@bobwitmer2492]

Excellent in depth interview!

[@Andru]

Thank yo so much! Glad to hear you liked it!

[@Mirtual]

Wonder if all those privacy commitments apply to federal authorities or China?

[@tdrg_]

China is a communist state. Of course not

[@tdrg_]

Most work. Not all, but most.

[@Tywele]

I think the answer to the 3rd privacy pillar missed one important thing: why is the app requesting this particular information?

[@curly_panda]

Answered every question I ever wondered about

[@Andru]

Thanks for helping! 🙌🏽 🙌🏽 🙌🏽

[@maicholor2849]

If you haven’t noticed the way all Apple employees talk, even the lowest rank, pretty much like Tim Cook, you haven’t been paying attention!

[@philroni]

Very interessting interview, thank you

[@Andru]

Thank you for watching! Very happy that you enjoyed it.

[@LangleyNA]

Wonderful work and conversation. Thank you for your effort and for sharing with er'body.

[@Andru]

Appreciate the kind words, thank you!

[@donyoung333]

Great Interview - now do one for IPadOS

[@Andru]

Definitely working on doing more of these!

[@Thee9thAaroniero]

His voice sounds like soldier knows best.

[@KENNYOUT3]

tha fact that they did not say with ah definite yeahs or no that there is ah backdoor in that one question is concerning ah lil bit and then they say that there are times where they have had to work with law enforcement with no follow up of course this could be referring to when they have to "talk" with any government and hand them what they have ahvalible of course. but tha way that was answered was odd

[@Andru]

Oh no, there's definitely no back door that they've built. They've confirmed this in other places as well, and the US gov in particular has called them out on it as being unhelpful. The times where they work with law enforcement would be for unencrypted data, as well as unencrypted CSAM investigations, things like that. But if you choose to encrypt even your iCloud backups, then those become useless to anyone but you as well - they added that feature I believe in iOS 16.

[@KENNYOUT3]

@@Andru oh I am well ahware of that. it is jus tha way that they answered was.. odd and as I said. it is probably based off of them jus handing over what they can tah law enforcement that is ahvalible in the open

[@Technobitsarchive]

They are probably not allowed to say

[@KENNYOUT3]

@@Technobitsarchive no doubt. but the vagueness of the whole answer is what I said

[@zacharykosove9048]

15:29 her mouth doesn't match her speech and it's tripping me out

[@Everyday-man]

I noticed that too, it was odd. Possibly just some type of lag spike when he was recording.

[@Andru]

Weird bug with an audio plugin. It also happened near the end where Sandy started answering a question and then it sounded like he started echoing for like half a second. I couldn't figure out how to fix those two things while editing - I spent half an hour confused 😅

[@SerazKhan-x5i]

😊

[@johnscott5105]

Yeah Apple is so interested in privacy it gladly takes huge amounts of money from Google to default Google search on all of Apple’s devices. That’s how much Apple cares, please. It’s all marketing BS.

[@Andru]

Did you watch the part where I asked them about that and they explained the protections when you search in Safari vs searching on the Google website directly?

[@pczern8275]

Closed-source software is inherently insecure. No developer is perfect, and in large scale corporations with global interest for backdoors and large number of employees it is unbelievable to even assume a system is secure without open practices. Either a total fabrication or a dream that isn't reality.

[@tdrg_]

Open-source doesn’t inherently mean secure either.

[@pczern8275]

@@tdrg_ it actually does a lot more than closed-source because if a flaw, especially an intentional flaw, is discovered it damages the companies reputation and value on the market. A company who would do that is acting against its own business model and its own shareholders.

[@tdrg_]

@@pczern8275 what does this have to do with your false claim that closed-source is inherently insecure? Just because a piece of software is open-source does not mean it is inherently secure, and vice versa.

[@pczern8275]

​@@tdrg_ prove a closed-source system to be secure

[@pczern8275]

@@tdrg_ prove a closed-source system to be secure.

[@Kieran28]

What on earth is she wearing???

[@zrnewf]

gotta love the apple propaganda

[@Faycalboukert]

Ugh why always talking privacy i don’t care about it it’s so clear that Apple will sat we care about privacy anything else we can hear from them

[@Everyday-man]

Most people in fact care about privacy a lot. Whether that be trackers, your IP address or safety features around malware and viruses ect which generally tie with privacy too. Most people use online services, purchasing, banking and so on.

[@lynxcat4life]

Then don't watch the video, it's not for you, there's lots of other content on this website! Hope this helps

[@Faycalboukert]

@@lynxcat4life i know well i spoke what was on my mind

[@FartNine]

@@Faycalboukert You ... sigh ... sure did.

[@tdrg_]

If you don’t care, don’t watch.

[@viz8746]

Apple products are about as private and secure as you can get. Same with Blackberry. With Android, Google, Microsoft, and Windows, you're a SIMP to even be using them expecting ANY level of privacy or data security! 😄

[@Kieran28]

What on earth is she wearing???