So, I finally took the plunge and got a new iPhone. I got the iPhone XR. I don’t even have a week with it, and so far so good I must say. I’m upgrading from the iPhone 6s. Mainly because the battery is in constant need of charging. The battery of my iPhone 6s has really turned to garbage. The battery on the iPhone XR, so far is definitely what I required.
I’m signed up to the Mozilla/Firefox newsletter and they normally send a few cool mails here and there. This one sure did catch my attention. It points out something I was not even aware of with the new iPhone. Mainly ,some of the privacy features. Privacy is one way to look at it, however it boils down to tailored ads that can some how end up being shoved down your throat. If you’re not familiar, I copied and pasted the -mail below. Check it out:
Each iPhone that Apple sells comes with a unique ID (called an "identifier for advertisers" or IDFA) that lets advertisers track the actions that users take when they use apps. It's like a salesperson following you from store to store while you shop and recording each thing that you pick up and look at. Not very private at all.
The good news is, you can turn this feature off. The bad news: most people don't know that feature exists, let alone that they should turn it off. And we think that they shouldn't have to.
That's why we're asking Apple to change the unique IDs for each iPhone every month. That means you could still get relevant ads — but it would be harder for companies to build a profile about you over time. Will you add your name to the petition?
Sign the petition
Apple cares about privacy. They've done a lot to protect the privacy of their customers and want to showcase that in their latest marketing campaign. That's why we think this petition will catch the attention of their executives and the media if enough people sign on.
If we win this, we'll not only help improve the privacy of iPhones, but we will send Silicon Valley the message that we want companies to safeguard our privacy through design — not by assuming that busy people have time to do something that should be baked into a product in the first place.
Thanks for standing up for privacy,
Ashley and the team at Mozilla
PS — Want to turn the feature off? This article explains how.
Photo by Tyler Lastovich from Pexels
