We all know the US-based technology giant Apple. The company prioritizes user privacy and has made numerous advertisements on this topic to date. However, the latest allegations shared reveal that Apple contradicts itself. Because the analyzes revealed the flaws of the App Store in data collection.
In the article titled “Device Analysis and Privacy” shared on Apple’s official website, exactly the following expressions are used: iPhone Analysis; may include details on hardware and operating system features, performance statistics, and data about how you use your devices and applications. None of the information collected provides an individual identification of you.
However, this explanation may not reflect the truth!
The application development and research team Mysk conducted a research on Apple’s app store called App Store. The research carried out contained very striking results. Because, allegedly, there was a huge difference between what Apple told and what it did. So much so that the App Store was transmitting the Analysis data it collected to Apple servers with an identifier called “dsId”. “What’s wrong with that?” you can say. Let’s explain now:
The *dsld variable and how it is used are shown.
The identifier named “dsId” among the codes created unique identities for users. So far everything was normal. Users were getting anonymous identities as Apple mentioned. However, dsId had another feature. The code block linked data from the user’s iCloud account, their name, email address, and other information. So even though anonymity was the highlight, Apple actually knew who its “anonymous” users were.
There’s more: the dsld created for iCloud is the same as the dsld created to collect data!
Apple creates a unique ID (dsld) for all iCloud accounts that are opened, regardless of the App Store and other services. In the investigations made by Mysk, it was determined that the unique ID created for iCloud accounts is the same as the unique ID used when transferring data collected from the App Store to the servers.
There is no way to interrupt the data flow!
In the investigations made by the research team, it was stated that there is no way to prevent the data in question from being sent to Apple. In the statement, it is stated that three things should be known about Apple:
- The App Store sends detailed analytics about you to Apple.
- There is no way to stop this.
- Analytics also include users’ personal information.
Apple sued!
The first allegations of the research team about Apple came to the fore on November 4, and a user named Elliot Libman filed a lawsuit against Apple by showing these claims as evidence. Recent findings from Mysk suggest that Libman’s claims may be stronger than anticipated. We will wait and see what will happen in the next part of the case…
You can reach the statements made on Msyk’s Twitter account via the link here.
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