Privacy is ‘virtually impossible’ on iPhones, experts warn

Privacy is 'virtually impossible' on iPhones, experts warn

Metro

Keeping your data hidden from Apple is ‘virtually impossible’, experts have warned.

A new study suggests that the default apps on an iPhone, iPad and MacBook collect your personal data, even when they appear to be disabled.

This is the first study to research the privacy settings of Apple’s default apps, specifically looking at Safari, Siri, Family Sharing, iMessage, FaceTime, Location Services, Find My and Touch ID, to see whether the corporation are living up to their slogan: ‘Privacy. That’s Apple.’

Associate Professor Janne Lindqvist, head of the computer science department at Aalto University, Finland, said: ‘We focused on apps that are an integral part of the platform and ecosystem.

‘These apps are glued to the platform, and getting rid of them is virtually impossible.

‘Due to the way the user interface is designed, users don’t know what is going on.

‘For example, the user is given the option to enable or not enable Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant. But enabling only refers to whether you use Siri’s voice control…