{"id":15233,"date":"2019-05-01T10:10:02","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T18:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2019\/05\/01\/news-8982\/"},"modified":"2019-05-01T10:10:02","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T18:10:02","slug":"news-8982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2019\/05\/01\/news-8982\/","title":{"rendered":"Mozilla urges Apple to make privacy a team sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: David Ruiz| Date: Wed, 01 May 2019 17:39:28 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

We often say cybersecurity is a team sport, but, pending a public advocacy campaign from one major tech developer to another, the same might be true for online privacy. <\/p>\n

Mozilla is currently getting people around the world to lend their voices toward Apple, asking that the company place some extra barriers between iPhone users and online advertisers. Though cybersecurity researchers disagree about the technology behind the request, the campaign has proved popular. In little over a week, more than 11,000 individuals put their names to the cause. <\/p>\n

Public advocacy campaigns, common amongst digital rights groups, are a tried-and-true practice for Mozilla, which racked up a couple wins in the past year-and-a-half. And, while such campaigns often target privacy abusers, Mozilla\u2019s petition to Apple is different\u2014it puts the pressure on another privacy champion. <\/p>\n

So, why spend the time to push Apple to raise the bar? Because, according to Mozilla, it could work, which could then lead to an outsized benefit for users everywhere.  <\/p>\n

\u201cApple’s track record of protecting user privacy was actually a motivation, and not a deterrent, for launching this campaign,\u201d said a spokesperson from Mozilla’s advocacy team. \u201cIt’s an issue they clearly care about, so we’re encouraging them to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apple has not yet responded to the petition, and it did not respond to a request for comment, but if Mozilla succeeds, it will have made an important point: When the technology industry pushes itself to better respect user privacy, we all win. <\/p>\n

The petition and the tech<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In mid-April, Firefox developer Mozilla launched a public petition at Apple<\/a>. The browser-making nonprofit asked Internet users around the world to push the world\u2019s richest company into making one small change to its iPhones\u2014regularly rotate an internal ID that lets advertisers track users\u2019 online behavior. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a unique ID living on your iPhone right now that allows advertisers to track the ads you click on, the videos you play, and the apps you install,\u201d Mozilla wrote about the iPhone ID code, which is called an \u201cID for Advertisers,\u201d or IDFA. Though the ID cannot reveal an iPhone user\u2019s identity\u2014and users can actually turn the identifying feature off\u2014Mozilla argued that it still poses a roadblock to privacy. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a salesperson following you from store to store while you shop and recording each thing you look at,\u201d wrote Mozilla Vice President of Advocacy Ashley Boyd in a related blog<\/a>. \u00a0Pushing back against Apple\u2019s recent advertising campaign that bills the iPhone as the near-definition of privacy, Boyd wrote: \u201cNot very private at all.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cybersecurity researchers are split on the idea. Some experts\u2014including Thomas Reed, director of Mac and mobile at Malwarebytes\u2014actually called for even tougher privacy controls. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that Apple should disable ad tracking and location-based ads by default, rather than the user having to opt out,\u201d Reed said, referring to users’ ability to turn off the IDFA capabilities. \u201cThat would provide way more benefit than what Mozilla proposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forrester Research senior analyst John Zelonis, in speaking to ThreatPost<\/a>, shared Reed\u2019s sentiment, explaining that monthly IDFA changes\u2014as Mozilla proposed\u2014would not meaningfully impede on advertisers\u2019 ability to track users online. <\/p>\n

\u201cRolling the IDFA on a monthly basis would only be an effective anonymizer if the app owners weren\u2019t able to track a user across those newly-generated IDFAs using login sessions or other methods of associating a user to an IDFA,\u201d Zelonis told the outlet. \u201cThe impact of making this change would likely only increase the value of the data collected by apps that are finding ways to track across IDFA, not necessarily solve the problem at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a separate researcher also told ThreatPost that Apple should not have to change a thing. <\/p>\n

“Apple\u2019s current way of handling the IDFA is the correct one,\u201d the researcher said.<\/p>\n

Despite the researchers\u2019 disagreements, there\u2019s a separate story here. It\u2019s about privacy champions pushing one another to do better. <\/p>\n

Privacy vs. privacy <\/strong><\/h3>\n

For years, Mozilla has not only advocated for privacy, it has also developed it into online tools. <\/p>\n

In 2017, Mozilla released its privacy-focused Android web browser, Firefox Focus, earning more than one million downloads in the first month. In 2018, Mozilla developed a browser add-on to give users a more private experience when using Facebook<\/a>, making it harder for the social media giant to collect information away from the platform itself. In the past two months, Mozilla has also released a secure file transfer service<\/a> and a password manager<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The nonprofit then pivoted, using its earned reputation in privacy to push others to do better. <\/p>\n

In 2018, before the release of Amazon\u2019s \u201cEcho Dot Kids Edition\u201d\u2014which includes a version of the smart assistant Alexa that tells children \u201cwake-wakey, eggs and bakey\u201d<\/a>\u2014Mozilla asked the retail giant to open up about how it would collect children\u2019s data<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Months later, Mozilla launched a public campaign about the payment processing app Venmo, gathering 25,000 signatures to steer the company into making users’ payment transactions private by default<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a tactic we use often,\u201d said the Mozilla spokesperson. \u201cWe’ve learned that when companies hear from consumers, they act.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an example, the spokesperson pointed to Mozilla\u2019s success in getting Target and Walmart to stop selling a hackable children\u2019s toy<\/a> last summer. <\/p>\n

Despite Mozilla\u2019s familiarity with this turf, the target is new: Apple has a far better track record than Amazon or Venmo in defending user privacy. <\/p>\n

In 2015, Apple began its famous fight against a government request to build a workaround to its secure mobile operating system. The workaround\u2014which many in the technology community called a \u201cbackdoor\u201d<\/a>\u2014would have let the FBI access encrypted data on a suspected terrorist\u2019s iPhone. But the demand pushed too far, said Apple CEO Tim Cook in an open letter<\/a> published the day after his company received the legal order. <\/p>\n

\u201cSpecifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation,\u201d Cook wrote. \u201cIn the wrong hands, this software\u2014which does not exist today\u2014would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone\u2019s physical possession.\u201d <\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s stance won the approval of many privacy rights advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union<\/a>, Electronic Frontier Foundation<\/a>, and Center for Democracy and Technology<\/a>. The move also won the approval of Mozilla, conjuring executive-penned op-eds in both Time<\/a> and CNN<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It is these two tech developers\u2019 strong privacy records that makes Mozilla\u2019s petition seem more like a friendly reminder than a stern warning. But no matter the tone, if Mozilla gets the iPhone maker to move, the impact could go beyond Apple\u2019s ecosystem. <\/p>\n

As Mozilla\u2019s Boyd wrote: <\/p>\n

“If Apple makes this change, it won\u2019t just improve the privacy of iPhones\u2014it will send Silicon Valley the message that users want companies to safeguard their privacy by default.”<\/p>\n

We agree. <\/p>\n

The post Mozilla urges Apple to make privacy a team sport<\/a> appeared first on Malwarebytes Labs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/blog.malwarebytes.com\/feed\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: David Ruiz| Date: Wed, 01 May 2019 17:39:28 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mozilla is currently pushing Apple into placing extra barriers between iPhone users and online advertisers. Why? Because, according to Mozilla, it could work, which could benefit users everywhere. <\/p>\n

Categories: <\/p>\n