The big tech names such as Facebook, google and amazon are famous for their data collection on customers to feed their advertisement business model. This has lead to an immense lack of trust on the consumer end, paving the way for Apple’s new strategy; individual privacy. By launching tools such as “Sign in with Apple”. This allows you to create a new account for 3rd parties using your Apple ID, however it hides your Apple-ID email.
The importance of privacy can be seen across a variety of Apple products. The bio data of users, such as Face ID & Touch ID are stored locally on the device instead of the cloud. Thus, not even Apple has direct access to it, but only the users. Additionally, Apple just launched additional privacy & security tools with IOS 14. Within the password manager “keychain”, apple will track the passwords and notify users if these have appeared in a recent data leak or have been compromised, prompting the user to change it (Newman, 2020). Additionally, they launched in-depth reports on safari, which show the user which websites and apps are tracking you, which information they’re tracking and how many attempts apple has blocked (Newman, 2020). This continues in the App Store, where a security & data rating is given to all the apps based on the information they collect.
Apple’s strategy of doubling down on privacy seems to align with their targets of improving the apple eco-system and in return strengthening their market position (Brandom, 2019). Especially in the current turmoil of data breaches, privacy concerns and lack of consumer trust.
However, there are some fundamental flaws that lead to consumers questioning their privacy strategy. For example, in 2018 Google paid Apple 9$ billion to remain their default search engine, ultimately a tax to harvest the data from IOS devices (Lindsey, 2019). Although, apple is signalling their stance, their actions still bring the question if they’re serious or just virtue signalling.
Brandom, R., 2019. Apple Wants To Be The Only Tech Company You Trust. [online] The Verge. Available at: <https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/26/18282158/apple-services-privacy-credit-card-tv-data-sharing> [Accessed 10 October 2020].
Lindsey, N., 2019. For Apple, Consumer Privacy Is Just A Business Strategy. [online] CPO Magazine. Available at: <https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-privacy/for-apple-consumer-privacy-is-just-a-business-strategy/> [Accessed 9 October 2020].
Meyers, J., 2020. Ios 14 Monitors Your Passwords To Protect You Against Data Breaches — Here’s How It Works. [online] Gadget Hacks. Available at: <https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/ios-14-monitors-your-passwords-protect-you-against-data-breaches-heres-works-0341281/> [Accessed 10 October 2020].
Newman, D., 2020. Apple’S Ios 14 Privacy Update Changes The Complexion Of User Data Collection. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2020/09/30/apples-ios-14-privacy-update-changes-the-complexion-of-user-data-collection/#6be3c07eed9e> [Accessed 10 October 2020].