Sign in with Apple thumbs its nose at Google and Facebook data slurping
Apple has unveiled a new super secure ‘Sign in with Apple’ service to help its customers protect their identity from data slurping companies.
The ‘Sign in with Apple’ service was unveiled at the company’s WWDC 2019 conference keynote on Monday. At first glance it works in a very similar way to Facebook and Google’s ‘sign in with’ services, letting you log into certain apps using your AppleID.
However, at the back end it’s way more secure and will reportedly make it far more difficult for companies to use sign in data for tracking and marketing purposes.
This is because it’ll have a nifty “hide my email address” function. As explained by Apple’s senior vice president of software, Craig Federighi, “some apps may want your name and maybe even an email to send you information when you’re outside the app. We do allow them to request this information, but check this out – you can choose to share your actual email address, or, you can choose to hide it, and when you do, we’ll create a new unique, random address that forwards messages to your real address.”
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Apple expanded its privacy policy for permissions as well. The update means users can opt to force iOS apps and services to request access to user data on a case-by-case basis. This will stop certain apps having continued access to iPhone and iPad users’ data.
The news follows widespread calls for better transparency around the way large tech companies, like Google and Facebook, use customer data.
The concerns peaked during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, when it was revealed that third party companies and individuals were using Facebook data to manipulate users’ voting habits. Since then Facebook has been on an ongoing campaign to reduce the amount of ‘fake news’ being spread on the platform and be more transparent about how it uses and shares user data.
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The news is one of many announcements to come out of the WWDC 2019 keynote. Apple unveiled fresh details about its new iOS 13 operating system, including that it will include a nifty new dark mode, as prior rumours suggested.
Apple TV OS has also had a spruce, getting a new multi-user function and support for the popular Xbox and PlayStation controllers.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.