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Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2022 09:43:00 -0800<\/strong><\/p>\n Every time Apple attempts to inject a little more privacy into the digital world<\/a>, it faces pushback<\/a> \u2013 but the evidence suggests opponents would be better off going along for the ride.<\/p>\n Take Do Not Track for ads and the move to quash IDFA tracking in iOS 14.\u00a0When Apple first announced its plan, critics across the ad industry complained it would damage their business.<\/p>\n Apple counter-argued<\/a>\u00a0that it would simply inspire advertisers to think more creatively about how to reach customers \u2014 while also providing more privacy to those customers. \u00a0<\/p>\n Who’s right?<\/p>\n You get to decide. But it seems relevant to consider that the latest App Annie State of Mobile report<\/a> claims the mobile ad market climbed 22.6% last year, despite moves to limit data tracking. That\u2019s clear evidence to suggest the mobile advertising industry is now healthier than ever before \u2014 even as users gained a little more privacy.<\/p>\n This pattern of resistance to change is occuring again. Apple\u2019s iCloud Private Relay<\/a> service is smart. It works to protect a user\u2019s Safari browser traffic by making it impossible to relate browsing habits to identity.<\/p>\n It does so by sending the request via one route while receiving the website by another<\/a>.\u00a0The effect of Private Relay is a little like VPN, and means no one, not Apple and not the carrier, can easily tell what sites you visit online.\u00a0You\u2019d think everyone would welcome this.<\/p>\n You\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n Carriers are complaining about the move. In Europe \u00a0a consortium including T-Mobile, Telefonica, Orange, and Vodafone have told the European Commission<\/a> that Private Relay prevents them from managing their networks and accessing vital network data and metadata.<\/p>\n They complain that Apple has become a \u201cdigital gatekeeper\u201d with the move. I expect Apple\u2019s army of lawyers<\/a> is tooling up for a fight.\u00a0After all, they will see that the carrier\u2019s argument makes little sense, given that Private Relay effectively gets rid of the gate. Who can keep a gate that does not exist?<\/p>\n It is worth noting that T-Mobile is one of a handful of carriers to have been accused of blocking the service, but it says the problem is with Apple.<\/p>\n \u201cCustomers who chose plans and features with content filtering (e.g. parent controls) do not have access to the iCloud Private Relay to allow these services to work as designed. All other customers have no restrictions,\u201d \u00a0T-Mobile said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carriers may have been quietly using this information to benefit their businesses. (It is also possible that some may be required to gather this information under some national security regulations.)<\/p>\n A BT Group submission<\/a> to the UK government complained that these technologies would make it difficult to monitor and censor content: \u201cThe\u00a0encryption\u00a0developments such as\u00a0DNS over HTTPS\u00a0and Apple\u00a0iCloud\u00a0Private Relay pose significant challenges for implementing such\u00a0Access Restriction\u00a0Orders,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n No one can collect such information if it does not exist.<\/p>\n What\u2019s strange about this is that most carriers will permit you to use VPN services (assuming you can find a trustworthy provider). And carriers have always been able to gather location data and usually some insight into app use.<\/p>\n Security experts think the carriers have little reason to complain, with perhaps one of the larger rationales being the potential universality of this protection.\u00a0While VPNs aren\u2019t routinely used, this service is available to every user and enabling it may obscure some information around network usage.<\/p>\n \u201cTelecom operators should already be comfortable with network neutrality, so simply managing the lower technical layers of the networks,\u201d privacy researcher Lukasz Olejnik told Wired<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n He argues that they can achieve pretty much the same results in terms of network optimization and provision of advanced network services by digging deeper into network infrastructure.<\/p>\n I think carriers will dig into network infrastructure to deliver advanced services and will still enjoy rapid business growth, just as the ad market is experiencing. They just need to find a new approach that isn’t data intrusive.<\/p>\n I am, however, concerned about the potential consequences if part of the problem carriers are having with Private Relay reflects the need to monitor content in line with security regulation in some places. If that is the case, Apple may be forced to remove the service from additional nations.<\/p>\n (The beta service is not available in\u00a0China, Belarus, Colombia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and the Philippines.)<\/p>\n But I also fear that Apple may be\u00a0pushed to extend its currently quiescent CSAM protection system<\/a> to monitor for other forms of online harm. That, of course, is precisely what\u00a0privacy advocates have warned about<\/a>.<\/p>\n Apple would simply argue that privacy is maintained for all “law-abiding” users, whatever that means in any given jurisdiction.<\/p>\n The story continues.<\/p>\n Please follow me on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, or join me in the\u00a0AppleHolic\u2019s bar & grill<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Apple Discussions<\/a>\u00a0groups on MeWe.<\/em><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.computerworld.com\/category\/security\/index.rss<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2022 09:43:00 -0800<\/strong><\/p>\n Every time Apple attempts to inject a little more privacy into the digital world<\/a>, it faces pushback<\/a> \u2013 but the evidence suggests opponents would be better off going along for the ride.<\/p>\n Take Do Not Track for ads and the move to quash IDFA tracking in iOS 14.\u00a0When Apple first announced its plan, critics across the ad industry complained it would damage their business.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nA bigger business with more privacy<\/strong><\/h2>\n