Google, Meta 'break' Apple's device fingerprinting rules

[gruez]

Original source, buried within the article: https://www.mysk.blog/2024/05/03/apple-required-reason-api/

[ajross]

Yeah, this is much clearer than The Register's attempt to summarize/explain/sensationalize it.

And the meat seems... pretty bland. They caught a bunch of "plausibly fingerprinty"[1] tokens (that a reasonable interpretation of Apple policy would require being stored on the device) being sent unobfuscated in later requests.

That looks a lot more like a genuine mistake by developers than a real attempt to evade tracking controls to me.

[1] But... not very? Seems like they're mostly concerned with system uptime. And, sure, boot time can be a fingerprint, but by definition an ephemeral one. In combination with other techniques, sure, maybe there's a way to construct an user profile. But alone? Meh. And it seems like that's all the investigators found.

[seeknotfind]

The software stack on a modern cellphone, or of a browser, is about as likely to stop fingerprinting as a sticky-fingered burglar already in the police database can, in an oil and sugar factory, prevent his identification after touching every knob and lever in a warehouse of machines by wiping off the door handle on the front door alone. Rules are important because we cannot prevent crime from occurring at all. Though a truly isolated, truly privacy-preserving technology may seem on the horizon - whether it be through statelessness, homomorphic encryption, distributed governance, or some other odd and yet unproven technology, I can only hope we can one day look back on the sorry state of affairs today with nostalgia as the rash and haphazard painful afflictions of passion for the stars and the unlimited potential we set ourselves out for today.

[Dudhbbh3343]

Librefox does a decent job at resisting fingerprinting, at least against the fairly standard service that we used at my previous company.

I'm sure with a little effort it could easily be defeated, but for some purposes it's enough.

[tremarley]

Could this be the reason why on iPhones, nearly everything we search for in Google Chrome is advertised to us on Instagram?

[dagmx]

More likely just tracking pixels. Unless Google is sharing data with Meta which seems unlikely. They operate competing ad networks.

[staplers]

Look up "retargeting ads"

[kurthr]

Yep, just noticed exactly this.

[calmworm]

Why, on any device… or group of devices you own and/or operate.

[yathaid]

Happens on Android too. Google and Facebook have a secret agreement to share data.

https://www.wired.com/story/texas-accuses-google-facebook-il...

[ipython]

I would believe this - after all how many billions of dollars did Google pay Apple to be the primary search engine on iOS? This further erodes my confidence in Apple doing the right thing and I think the EU is doing the world a service by setting in motion alternative app stores.

[gruez]

>I would believe this - after all how many billions of dollars did Google pay Apple to be the primary search engine on iOS?

The OP also mentions Facebook and Spotify also are violating rules, and to my knowledge they're not paying apple "billions", so this explanation doesn't pass the sniff test. The actual reason is probably far more banal: these apps command a huge user base, which would be very upset if apple banned these apps. As a result apple is letting such infractions slide because they don't want to upset users.

[burnerthrow008]

> I think the EU is doing the world a service by setting in motion alternative app stores.

Why, so that developers can have absolutely no rules against abusing their users?

[MBCook]

There’s a second set of rules for mega popular apps. Always has been. FB should have been permanently banned 15 years ago.

If you’re important enough Apple will let you get away with murder compared to normal devs. Users don’t buy phones without FB, Instagram, Spotify, WhatsApp, Google apps, etc.

There is only one time I remember anything happening to a big app. Fortnite probably could have tracked people for years. But the they took away Apple’s cut and publicly stuck a thumb in Apple’s eye at the same time. So they got booted.

[BenFranklin100]

This shouldn’t be a cat and mouse game. Google and Meta should be subject to a class action lawsuit for gross privacy violations and sued into smithereens. All the developers whose livelihood depends on surveillance capitalism can go do something more productive with their lives.

[xyst]

The claims of privacy by Apple are just a facade. I’m done with this walled in ecosystem (jail).

They have good looking products but the company itself is as rotten as their competition.

[Tagbert]

And you got all of that from an article about Google and Facebook, maybe, trying to get around Apple’s attempts to provide more privacy?

[firecall]

Well I never!

Side note: I wonder how much harm Apple is doing to it's brand with it's Pious Attitude and Arrogant Behaviour?

Even as a long time, but relatively small shareholder, I'm on the fence about Apple right now.

I cant see the iPhone failing to lay golden eggs anytime soon.

But the Apple Vision Pro feels like they took those golden eggs and gold platted a toilet seat.

Tim Cook runs a tight shop, but he's been riding the wave of iPhone growth and the engineering excellence that gave us Apple Silicon.

The overall Apple brand hasnt been doing so well IMHO, and it's the Brand that saved Apple back in the 90s!

You cant fake passion, and everytime we see Tim Cook on stage or presenting, I get the vibe he would rather be somewhere else!

[staplers]

Interesting to see this downvoted. I've been on Apple for over 15 years and feel exactly the same. The ice is getting a lot thinner and I've been looking at options how to move out of their ecosystem.