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1050792

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Oct 2, 2016
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Short answer: No.

Long answer: Definitely No.

You can't trust anyone with personal information besides yourself and if you need to ask this question I'm sure you don't trust Apple either.
 
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noekozz

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2010
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Trump just signed a law repealing ISP privacy, so now all your personal info and browsing history is open for sale to third parties.

Thanks Trump !!!


Personally I believe there's really no privacy anymore, anything can be accessed if someone was so inclined to want it.
 

andyp350

macrumors 6502a
Aug 14, 2011
807
460
If you are concerned enough to create this thread I'd say you probably shouldn't use cloud storage at all.
Personally I couldn't care less what happens to my data and would choose the convenience of cloud based solutions over potential data protection risks any day but that's just me.
 

Apple_Robert

Contributor
Sep 21, 2012
35,576
52,315
In a van down by the river
Thank you!

I just turned on "two-factor authentication", but I'm not sure how it makes my device more secure?
Even if someone knew your email address and password, said person would still have to have direct access to your trusted device ( to execute the pin code confirmation) in order to gain access to your iCloud account. It is another layer of security.

I recommend...

1) That your iCloud email account not be one that you use for other accounts (if possible).
2) That your password be a long hyphenated phrase (with a mix of upper and lower case letters) that only you would know and use. In other words, an obscure phrase that only you would know; and one that would not be found amongst any other used phrases or passwords you have used or currently use.
3) That you do not accurately answer security questions that you create for an account. Answers to such questions should be very obscure and not related to the subject of the question.
4) Adding a second "trusted device" to your account. This way, if your iPhone becomes temporarily lost, stolen, broken, or otherwise not readily available, you can still have access to your account with another iPhone or Android device.
 
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baypharm

macrumors 68000
Nov 15, 2007
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That is not what I said. I don't know if the NSA is plugged into my isp VZW or not, my guess yes, but the statement was with regard to apple. Of course it's easier to say the government has more advanced programs than what we know, rather than anything else.

Whatever dude. I quoted your post so you said it. It is not "easier" for me to make these statements than anything else - (as you say). I have lived through the whole scenario. I have had brand new in the retail package hard drives, flash drives, etc., and found them equipped with spy software that was ultimately traced to you know where. Not going to repeat my posts from 3-4 years ago. You can go back and read them yourself. End of discussion for this guy.
 

BeautifulWoman_1984

Contributor
Original poster
Sep 5, 2016
536
70
If you buy a smartphone these days you will pay for it with your personal information. The most common operating systems are iOS and Android. So you will have to make a "tough" choice. Giving your personal details to a producer (Apple), or to a marketeer (Google)? It is up to you ;)

Hmmm I never thought of that before.

Great point.
 

BeautifulWoman_1984

Contributor
Original poster
Sep 5, 2016
536
70
Sorry to be bumping such an old thread, but I thought it'd be better for me to bump an old thread than creating a new thread with a similar question. Also, a lot has changed since 2017 with so many cloud Apps and with users storing much more information in the cloud.

I want to store my most personal files on my Apple devices and Apple's iCloud.

My question:


Does Apple care about user privacy more than other companies like Dropbox, Microsoft and Google?

Is Apple more likely to share my personal data like my photos with other companies or other entities?
 

Mr_Brightside_@

macrumors 68040
Sep 23, 2005
3,798
2,167
Toronto
Sorry to be bumping such an old thread, but I thought it'd be better for me to bump an old thread than creating a new thread with a similar question. Also, a lot has changed since 2017 with so many cloud Apps and with users storing much more information in the cloud.

I want to store my most personal files on my Apple devices and Apple's iCloud.

My question:

Does Apple care about user privacy more than other companies like Dropbox, Microsoft and Google?

Is Apple more likely to share my personal data like my photos with other companies or other entities?
1) yes, at least more than Google
2) Apple doesn't do this, or if they do, they don't admit to it
 

ApfelKuchen

macrumors 601
Aug 28, 2012
4,335
3,012
Between the coasts
Sorry to be bumping such an old thread, but I thought it'd be better for me to bump an old thread than creating a new thread with a similar question. Also, a lot has changed since 2017 with so many cloud Apps and with users storing much more information in the cloud.

I want to store my most personal files on my Apple devices and Apple's iCloud.

My question:

Does Apple care about user privacy more than other companies like Dropbox, Microsoft and Google?

Is Apple more likely to share my personal data like my photos with other companies or other entities?

At one level this is imponderable. We don't know whether any company really cares, we only know what they say and do.

End User Licensing Agreements should give some guidance, if we read them. A company's public statements about privacy should give some guidance, if we read them. In the end, though, it's always going to be about earning trust.

Of the companies listed, the primary business of Apple, Dropbox and Microsoft is to sell products and services to a customer base. As their primary revenue streams come from customers willing to pay for services (whether those customers are consumers or corporations/institutions), any exposure/sale of that data would shake customer trust in that business.

Google has always been suspect because its business is based on selling access to users - targeting advertisements to the "right" audience. It gives free services away in exchange for those users' attention and the ability to track their behavior. Even if the contents of a Google Drive account turn out to be just as secure as the contents of iCloud, DropBox, or OneDrive, there's the nagging doubt that "you don't get something for nothing."

However, there's "user data" and "user data." Does Google, Apple, DropBox or Microsoft have the right to share data you have uploaded to what ought to be private storage (Google Photos/Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive, DropBox)? That should be a resounding NO, and it likely is. They may be obligated to share that data with government entities, but it should not be available to anyone else.

Then there's "data about users" - the kind of information Google gathers whenever you touch a web browser - sites visited, buttons and links clicked, etc. The information Facebook gathers because of everything you post there, everything you view there. You're putting it out there in "public," so they consider it fair game.

Is Apple more or less likely to share your personal data with other companies or entities? Again, for personal data storage, Apple should be equally likely - the likelihood should be zero for all those companies. However, Apple, more than others, has been very vocal about privacy, so they leave themselves in a more vulnerable position - the consumer backlash should Apple be found to be lying about this would shake the economic foundation of its business - its relationship with its customers. Without customer loyalty, Apple can't charge premium prices or expect a constant stream of repeat business. Unlike DropBox and Microsoft, which make the bulk of their revenues from corporations, Apple is primarily dependent on individual consumers.
 
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ghanwani

macrumors 601
Dec 8, 2008
4,821
6,142
If you need "good enough" security and privacy, Apple is OK. Apple is unlikely to sell your personal info or make it accessible to 3rd parties, anonymized or not, in the way that FB or Google do.

If you are paranoid about security and privacy, Apple doesn't cut it.

You would have to move to tools and apps focused on these aspects such as signal, protonmail, etc. Protonmail is working on protondrive.

With protonmail, even their employees cannot read your email and if you forget the encryption password, your data is inaccessible.
"ProtonMail's zero access architecture means that your data is encrypted in a way that makes it inaccessible to us.
...
If you forget your password, we cannot recover your data."

My guess is that this would carry over to protodrive as well.

See also:
 
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Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
Apple would be ok to trust as long as you don't go wild and give up everything to them

I trust my own privacy more, and you have to trust someone otherwise none of us would even be online. The cost of privacy is how little you trust everyone. But we value convnience more in this age and age, so it may as well be dead.
 

jerwin

Suspended
Jun 13, 2015
2,895
4,651
There is no safe and secure location anymore. That includes your house or the cloud. If there is someone who really wants the data . . . . .
From the adversarial point of view, It's not a question of really wanting the data. It's a question of profitably extracting value from the data.
 
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