Skip to main content

Privacy

See All Stories

Privacy is a growing concern in today’s world. Follow along with all our coverage related to privacy, security, what Apple and other companies are doing to keep your information safe, and what steps you can take to keep your information private.

WWDC: Two of AI’s biggest PR issues are about to be Apple’s strengths

AI

Apple is set to unveil a host of AI-centric updates in iOS 18 and its other software platforms this Monday at WWDC.

Much of what the company will announce is playing catch-up to its competitors, though at a scale and accessibility that’s hard to match. However, where the company is especially poised to make an AI splash is in its differentiated approach.

Unlike its competitors, Apple has strengths in two areas that are currently PR headaches for AI: privacy and the environment.

Here’s what that means for its AI reveals at WWDC.

Expand Expanding Close

Meta is using your data to train AI models; Europeans can opt out [U: Investigations]

Meta is using your data to train AI models | Colorful office building

Update: Both the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office and the European Commission have now launched investigations into the legality of making it opt-out instead of opt-in.

If you use Instagram or Facebook, Meta is using your data to train its AI models. The company uses posts as training material for its generative AI systems. Privacy legislation in the UK and European Union means that the company is forced to offer an opt-out option – but it is doing so in a rather sketchy way …

Expand Expanding Close
TicketMaster hack | Live concert

TicketMaster hack sees personal data of 560M for sale [U: Snowflake statement]

Update: After reports that cloud storage provider Snowflake may have been compromised, the company said there is no evidence of this. Reading between the lines, the attack may have been made via Snowflake, but it appears to have been TicketMaster credentials that were compromised.

A TicketMaster hack has been confirmed by the company in an SEC security filing, stating that personal data of its users has been offered for sale on the dark web. The agency has not confirmed the scale of what appears to have been a massive breach …

Expand Expanding Close

The M4 iPad Pro has a new privacy feature Apple hasn’t told anyone about

Apple M4 chip AI

Over the last few years, Apple has built a reputation for being strong on user privacy. Its marketing likes to emphasize this point often as a way of distinguishing the company from its competitors.

Interestingly though, a new discovery reveals that the just-released M4 iPad Pro includes a new security feature that Apple hasn’t told anyone about.

Expand Expanding Close

Apple Location Services vulnerability can enable troop movements to be tracked

Apple Location Services vulnerability | Hand placing pin on map

Security researchers report that a key element of Apple Location Services contains what they call “a really serious privacy vulnerability” that allowed troop movements to be tracked.

The issue could also allow an attacker to work out the location of anyone using a mobile wifi router, such as those in RVs, and travel routers sometimes used by business travellers …

Expand Expanding Close

Apple could get its wish for a federal privacy law by the end of this year

Federal privacy law could pass this year | Privacy Please sign

The need for a federal privacy law has long been clear to most, but making it actually happen has been another matter. However, a compromise could potentially see it introduced by the end of the year.

Apple has been calling for Congress to pass a GDPR-style privacy law since at least 2018, but little progress has been made since then. All that may be about to change, however …

Expand Expanding Close

Unpatchable security flaw in Apple Silicon Macs breaks encryption

Unpatchable security flaw in Apple Silicon Macs | MacBook with chaotic colorful wallpaper

University researchers have found an unpatchable security flaw in Apple Silicon Macs, which would allow an attacker to break encryption and get access to cryptographic keys.

The flaw is present in M1, M2, and M3 chips, and because the failing is part of the architecture of the chips, there’s no way for Apple to fix it in current devices …

Expand Expanding Close

PSA: X audio and video calls probably don’t use strong encryption

Regain clarity with CleanMyPhone by MacPaw — the new AI-powered cleaning app that quickly identifies and removes blurred images, screenshots, and other clutter from your device. Download it now with a free trial.


X audio and video calls started rolling out last year, in a feature nobody appeared to ask for and few seem to want. We previously shared how to deactivate the feature, and now it seems there’s another reason to do so …

Expand Expanding Close

PSA: Don’t trust Amazon’s Choice video doorbells – some allow anyone to spy on you

Consumer Reports found that some Amazon’s Choice video bells have security so bad that a complete stranger can pair their phone to your doorbell simply by holding the exterior button for eight seconds.

Bad actors can even access still images from thousands of miles away, without needing any credentials for your account, creating a privacy nightmare …

Expand Expanding Close

Security Bite: Jamf warns cyber hygiene among many Apple-using businesses is ‘abysmal’

Hey, Arin here. Last week was the busiest for security so far this year. We saw an unprecedented offensive on the LockBit ransomware gang; Apple moved to make iMessage future-proof with quantum computer protection, and the topic of this week, Jamf’s new report highlighting some alarming statistics around Apple-using businesses. So, grab your drink of choice. Let’s get into it…


9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.


Expand Expanding Close

CSAM scanning would be abused, says Apple – using argument it originally rejected

CSAM scanning would be abused | Unlocked padlocks

When Apple announced its own approach to CSAM scanning, many of us warned that the process used to check for child sexual abuse materials would ultimately be abused by repressive governments to scan for things like political protest plans.

The Cupertino company rejected that reasoning at the time, but in an ironic twist is now using precisely this argument in response to the Australian government …

Expand Expanding Close

Wyze camera breach let 13,000 customers view other people’s homes

Wyze camera breach | Two cameras shown

A Wyze camera breach allowed some 13,000 customers view footage from other people’s homes. The company had originally said that the serious privacy and security breach had only happened for 14 people.

Wyze says that most of these customers only saw a thumbnail, but that more than 1,500 users saw either a full-size still or a video recording of an event …

Expand Expanding Close

Security Bite: What exactly does Vision Pro share about your surroundings?

apple security release page

Last week, Apple finally released an in-depth Vision Pro and visionOS data privacy overview. While it was arguably something that the company could’ve been available at launch, it helps explain what precisely the spatial computer collects from our surroundings and sends to third-party applications, and more…


9to5Mac Security Bite is exclusively brought to you by Mosyle, the only Apple Unified Platform. Making Apple devices work-ready and enterprise-safe is all we do. Our unique integrated approach to management and security combines state-of-the-art Apple-specific security solutions for fully automated Hardening & Compliance, Next Generation EDR, AI-powered Zero Trust, and exclusive Privilege Management with the most powerful and modern Apple MDM on the market. The result is a totally automated Apple Unified Platform currently trusted by over 45,000 organizations to make millions of Apple devices work-ready with no effort and at an affordable cost. Request your EXTENDED TRIAL today and understand why Mosyle is everything you need to work with Apple.


Expand Expanding Close

DuckDuckGo: Sync passwords and bookmarks across devices; no account needed

DuckDuckGo sync passwords and bookmarks – screengrabs shown

The ability to sync passwords and bookmarks between devices is a core feature of most browsers, but not something DuckDuckGo supported until today.

Safari lets you do this using your Apple ID, and Chrome via your Google account – but that’s not an approach DuckDuckGo wanted to take. The privacy-first company said that it was focused on creating an entirely private way to do this, with no account needed …

Expand Expanding Close