Apple Will Judge Call, Email Activity To Assign Users a 'Trust Score' (theinquirer.net)

Apple recently updated its iTunes privacy policy page, making mention of a "trust score" it gives iPhone users on how they make calls or send emails. The INQUIRER reports: "To help identify and prevent fraud, information about how you use your device, including the approximate number of phone calls or emails you send and receive, will be used to compute a device trust score when you attempt a purchase," Apple explained. "The submissions are designed so Apple cannot learn the real values on your device. The scores are stored for a fixed time on our servers."

In practical terms, the Cupertino crew will only look at Apple account usage patterns and hoover up metadata rather than more personal, and potentially damning information. [T]he data collection and trust score assigning should help Apple better spot and dodgy activity going on in Apple accounts that aren't in keeping with those of the legitimate users. [I]t's not entirely clear how Apple will use the metadata to actually spot fraud, as it hasn't explained its workings.

Comments

Re:Just like communist China!

[rtb61]

What they will be looking at is pretty straight forward and most banks do something similar. So activity surges, purchases suddenly from a different location, possibly types of products purchased. Bad billing costs more, loses customers more, so trying to make sure the end user is not cheated and does not get fraudulent bills is important.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?

[havana9]

I suppose that is something similar on what happens with credit cards and debit cards, so if a purchase is made out of a normal pattern the card is locked. When I travel abroad, I phone to my bank and I tell them when and where I'll go. In case of false positives, happened once and an ATM refused my card, a quick call to the bank resolved the problem.

Re: Social Credit

[Nidi62]

Like that episode on Black Mirror where their scores affected the price of rent and credit worthiness. In the end people 5 starred everything including the kid pouring your coffee at starbucks. Do people not get the concept of grade inflation?

The Orville had a better exploration, where anyone could "like" or "dislike" a person or their actions and that created a social score that stuck with a person forever. Too many "dislikes" and a person couldn't even get served at a store or coffee shop and eventually dislikes could become high enough that you could be sentenced to having your personality wiped. If it got close to that stage people would literally have to go on an apology tour to try to get enough likes to counterbalance it. I don't think society will ever (hopefully) get that far, but it is a good warning for how "social scores" are a really bad idea.