Slashdot Mirror
If You're Connected, Apple Collects Your Data
fyngyrz (762201) writes It would seem that no matter how you configure Yosemite, Apple is listening. Keeping in mind that this is only what's been discovered so far, and given what's known to be going on, it's not unthinkable that more is as well. Should users just sit back and accept this as the new normal? It will be interesting to see if these discoveries result in an outcry, or not. Is it worse than the data collection recently reported in a test version of Windows?
at least in debian you can dpkg-reconfigure popularity-contest, and it asks you if you want to participate and is fairly transparent about the proccess.
Even if you change search engines in safari, it doesn't disable Spotlight suggestions in Safari. That's a separate checkbox in the Search tab in the Safari preferences. (There are a bunch of options in the Search preferences in Safari)
Oh, I read it. But you didn't read my response to your other comment, which was,
Searching maps is part of Spotlight suggestions
The Windows one is not even a privacy wrong, it is more an example of the right way to do it. You are signing up to provide them feedback, they state it when you download it to install, it is part of the conditions.
So just out of ideal thought.... This wouldn't have anything to do with the settings clearly available for adjustment within the System Preferences -> Security & Privacy pane and then select the "Privacy" tab. Inside there you see a lot of clearly defined options for opting in or out of various settings:
Location Services: Enable/Disable as a whole; Disable by specific user allowed apps
Contacts: Allow/Disallow apps chosen by user to use your contacts
Calendars: Allow/Disallow apps chosen by user to use your calendars
Reminders: Allow/Disallow apps chosen by user
Accessibility: Allow/Disallow apps chosen by user to control the computer
Diagnostics & Usage: Allow/Disallow "Send diagnostic & usage data to Apple" as well as Allow/Disallow "Share crash data with app developers"
Seems pretty obvious to me and very easy to find and adjust settings as desired by each user. Apple even goes a step further and within the "Diagnostics & Usage" option they have a button titled "About Diagnostics & Privacy" that provides the following information:
From the article:
So even though it is presented as opt-out, it apparently isn't actually opt out.
I've noticed the same thing. With all of the "privacy" related options enabled, there is still a great deal of chatting with Apple servers. I'm seeing this with Little Snitch.
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
They specifically said they turned off Spotlight suggestions.
No, he said he turned off Spotlight suggestions in Spotlight. Not Spotlight suggestions in Safari. (Because you may not want Spotlight sending strings to Apple when searching for files on the computer, but you may not care if you are only searching the internets via safari).
Even if that were not so, changing search engine should never mean you have to find another configuration option to turn off the old search engine. That's just wrong.
It's in the same window!
They don't make money by selling user information to third parties or by selling ads,
Funny, Apple has this thing called iAd where you pay Apple to place targeted ads, and it's currently being sued for selling user info to 3rd parties. Are these activities Apple's primary revenue model? No, but they are part of the revenue stream nevertheless.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Agreed, they have a very good track record but...
They don't make money by selling user information to third parties or by selling ads
Huh? http://advertising.apple.com/
Sure, it's not their main cash cow, but they do sell ads, with targeting and analytics.
meep
They don't make money by selling user information to third parties or by selling ads,
Funny, Apple has this thing called iAd where you pay Apple to place targeted ads, and it's currently being sued for selling user info to 3rd parties. Are these activities Apple's primary revenue model? No, but they are part of the revenue stream nevertheless.
iAd is only for iOS Devices (not Yosemite) and your second link is extremely misleading. They're being sued for asking customers that purchase high priced items for their zip code as an additional form of data to verify with the credit card processor to prevent fraudulent transactions. Maybe merchants that have a high amount of fraud do this type of verification.
MS only phones home if there is no driver (or a generic universal driver with only the most basic functionality) locally. It does that to get the driver that will allow best performance. You can turn it off it it makes a difference to you...
The GP didn't specify "Yosemite only" - but Apple as a whole. And asking for ZIP code is apparently illegal in MA - which is where they are being sued.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
TFA specifically notes that the behavior described was observed with all visible 'privacy' settings adjusted. Presumably the story is even cheerier if those aren't switched off.
He only disabled Spotlight Suggestions in the Spotlight preferences, he did not disable it for Safari, which is in the Safari preferences, right next to the search engine preference.
(Because you may not want Spotlight sending strings to Apple when searching for files on the computer, but you may not care if you are only searching the internets via safari).