Privacy vs functionality on an iPhone
December 8, 2015 10:33 AM Subscribe
I try to protect my privacy online. I'm thinking of getting an iPhone. Please recommend resources on protecting privacy while not pointlessly depriving myself of functionality.
Online and in real life, I generally try to limit how easy it is to gather info about me:
* I avoid cloud services; when I use one (e.g. Dropbox), I only upload files I've already encrypted on my end
* I turn off Location Services for pretty much all websites
* I tend not to use store loyalty cards, but occasionally do, especially since I know they've got all my info if I pay with a credit card anyway
* I have a transit card (Clipper) but 99% of the time I pay cash
I use a phone much more as a super-smart mp3 player that can also make phone calls rather than an always-connected heavy user.
I don't make or receive many phone calls at all (like, fewer than 1 a week).
I'm not on social media (no Facebook, no Instagram, no Twitter).
I don't plan to keep to-do lists or calendars on the phone. If I use it for email, I'll probably just use Safari to connect to webmail.
However, I don't want to deprive myself of cool features of the iPhone if (a) the benefit outweighs the loss of privacy or (b) my data's being tracked anyway so my attempt to opt out isn't actually accomplishing anything (like with the loyalty card example above).
Some things that I think could be cool include occasional GPS, maybe the Apple Health stuff (but I'm very wary of privacy there), and Apple Wallet.
I'm especially wary of using iCloud for anything - and mostly because I don't see the benefit for my own particular uses. I don't want to store my photos or music in the cloud, ever, even if it's 100% private.
So I am primarily looking for good resources, from people like the EFF or Bruce Schneier, that will help me sort out when there's a real benefit to a particular feature, so I can balance when to opt out vs when I'm just depriving myself of coolness for no reason. Your own advice and best practices are welcome, too.
Thanks!
Online and in real life, I generally try to limit how easy it is to gather info about me:
* I avoid cloud services; when I use one (e.g. Dropbox), I only upload files I've already encrypted on my end
* I turn off Location Services for pretty much all websites
* I tend not to use store loyalty cards, but occasionally do, especially since I know they've got all my info if I pay with a credit card anyway
* I have a transit card (Clipper) but 99% of the time I pay cash
I use a phone much more as a super-smart mp3 player that can also make phone calls rather than an always-connected heavy user.
I don't make or receive many phone calls at all (like, fewer than 1 a week).
I'm not on social media (no Facebook, no Instagram, no Twitter).
I don't plan to keep to-do lists or calendars on the phone. If I use it for email, I'll probably just use Safari to connect to webmail.
However, I don't want to deprive myself of cool features of the iPhone if (a) the benefit outweighs the loss of privacy or (b) my data's being tracked anyway so my attempt to opt out isn't actually accomplishing anything (like with the loyalty card example above).
Some things that I think could be cool include occasional GPS, maybe the Apple Health stuff (but I'm very wary of privacy there), and Apple Wallet.
I'm especially wary of using iCloud for anything - and mostly because I don't see the benefit for my own particular uses. I don't want to store my photos or music in the cloud, ever, even if it's 100% private.
So I am primarily looking for good resources, from people like the EFF or Bruce Schneier, that will help me sort out when there's a real benefit to a particular feature, so I can balance when to opt out vs when I'm just depriving myself of coolness for no reason. Your own advice and best practices are welcome, too.
Thanks!
iCloud isn't just photo/music storage--it's the medium Apple makes available as a remote back-end for all your stuff so that it can be automagically synced to your Mac (if you have a Mac). So contacts, calendars, and data from third-party apps all can be synced through that.
Of course, you can also sync your iPhone to your desktop computer locally (via cable or wifi); you just need to remember to do that. The magic with iCloud is adding something to your calendar on one side and having it appear on the other side a few seconds later. The ability to send and receive text messages on my desktop via my phone is also pretty great, and this also depends on iCloud.
With iOS 9, Apple started adding some smarts to the calendar, so that if you indicate the address of an appointment, your phone (and/or Mac) will tell you when you need to leave to get there on time based on current traffic. This is useful to me, maybe not to you.
There are a number of apps that use Dropbox as their syncing datastore, and I get a lot of use out of some of these--I sync text notes between my phone and mac via a particular Dropbox folder. I sync the Mac and iPhone versions of 1Password (which has internal encryption) via Dropbox as well. This is handier (for me) than you might imagine, because I use it for things like combination locks, where I'd want to look up that info on the go.
Apple has a pretty extensive privacy sub-site documenting how their privacy works. You might be interested in it.
posted by adamrice at 11:04 AM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Of course, you can also sync your iPhone to your desktop computer locally (via cable or wifi); you just need to remember to do that. The magic with iCloud is adding something to your calendar on one side and having it appear on the other side a few seconds later. The ability to send and receive text messages on my desktop via my phone is also pretty great, and this also depends on iCloud.
With iOS 9, Apple started adding some smarts to the calendar, so that if you indicate the address of an appointment, your phone (and/or Mac) will tell you when you need to leave to get there on time based on current traffic. This is useful to me, maybe not to you.
There are a number of apps that use Dropbox as their syncing datastore, and I get a lot of use out of some of these--I sync text notes between my phone and mac via a particular Dropbox folder. I sync the Mac and iPhone versions of 1Password (which has internal encryption) via Dropbox as well. This is handier (for me) than you might imagine, because I use it for things like combination locks, where I'd want to look up that info on the go.
Apple has a pretty extensive privacy sub-site documenting how their privacy works. You might be interested in it.
posted by adamrice at 11:04 AM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Choosing an iPhone instead of Android is a good first step, as adamrice points out. Don't use Google products, turn off Location Services for everything and enable as-needed for navigation. Set your search engine to DuckDuckGo. If you aren't worried about missing a call or text, keep the phone in Airplane mode until you need to communicate or access the Internet. Use the Ghostery browser instead of Safari. Install Weblock to block ads in apps as well as browsers.
I'm pretty damn paranoid, but I use Apple's built-in services with no qualms. The integration of calendar, mail and navigation is really useful. Like I just found out yesterday that if you have two appointments in a day and you need to factor in travel time, Calendar automatically gives you the time from the first appointment's location instead of assuming you're starting from home. And location-based Reminders are pretty slick, but you'd have to leave your phone in normal mode. Also, Siri requires an Internet connection, but you may not find it useful enough.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:25 AM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty damn paranoid, but I use Apple's built-in services with no qualms. The integration of calendar, mail and navigation is really useful. Like I just found out yesterday that if you have two appointments in a day and you need to factor in travel time, Calendar automatically gives you the time from the first appointment's location instead of assuming you're starting from home. And location-based Reminders are pretty slick, but you'd have to leave your phone in normal mode. Also, Siri requires an Internet connection, but you may not find it useful enough.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:25 AM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
Apple has been pretty aggressive lately about establishing its bona fides as a pro-privacy vendor. Because they make their money with hardware and software and not advertising, so taking this position is both possible and a good idea for them.
Consider using Apple Pay when you can; it exposes much less of your information to the vendor than they'd get with a traditional card-swipe transaction (and for this reason, some vendors were initially opposed to it; they like how privacy-hostile traditional card transactions are).
Finally, I feel very okay about signing up for store loyalty cards with utterly bullshit data. :)
posted by uberchet at 1:21 PM on December 8, 2015
Consider using Apple Pay when you can; it exposes much less of your information to the vendor than they'd get with a traditional card-swipe transaction (and for this reason, some vendors were initially opposed to it; they like how privacy-hostile traditional card transactions are).
Finally, I feel very okay about signing up for store loyalty cards with utterly bullshit data. :)
posted by uberchet at 1:21 PM on December 8, 2015
Thank you, yueliang, for sharing that incredibly useful information. I'm going to put it into practice ASAP.
posted by virago at 5:59 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by virago at 5:59 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
I’m a long-time iOS and Mac user and i just recently finally allowed iCloud syncing of everything *except* music, photos, and Safari bookmarks/tabs. I’m not happy with everything Apple has been doing with the two systems, but iOS & iCloud security is something they are doing very well at and have made a bunch of improvements in the last few years to the point that i feel it is secure enough for most users. Aside from the privacy/security overview linked above, you should take a careful look at the more-detailed iOS Security Guide.
Finally having my contacts/calender/reminders/notes syncing automatically between my desktop and phone is wonderful and i find i’m using them all much more (which has been beneficial). Also, i think the iPhone 6s is the best overall mobile device i’ve used. Although it looks the same, there are many improvements over last year’s iPhone 6.
posted by D.C. at 3:05 AM on December 9, 2015
Finally having my contacts/calender/reminders/notes syncing automatically between my desktop and phone is wonderful and i find i’m using them all much more (which has been beneficial). Also, i think the iPhone 6s is the best overall mobile device i’ve used. Although it looks the same, there are many improvements over last year’s iPhone 6.
posted by D.C. at 3:05 AM on December 9, 2015
Choosing an iPhone instead of Android is a good first step, as adamrice points out...
Ultimately, with iOS, you're only as safe as Apple decides to let you be. If you're truly paranoid, Android has major advantages. Cyanogenmod's version of android is open source, installs easily on lots of phones has no built-in connection back to either Google or Apple. You're entirely free to pick and choose what installs and the permissions system is utterly transparent. Plus, Firefox (and some other browsers) on Android let you install plenty of plugins so you can lock down the browser. With CM or rooted android, you can block ads at a system-wide root level, etc.
It all depends on how paranoid and tech savvy you are, though. iOS is certainly easier to live with.
posted by woof at 8:31 AM on December 9, 2015
Ultimately, with iOS, you're only as safe as Apple decides to let you be. If you're truly paranoid, Android has major advantages. Cyanogenmod's version of android is open source, installs easily on lots of phones has no built-in connection back to either Google or Apple. You're entirely free to pick and choose what installs and the permissions system is utterly transparent. Plus, Firefox (and some other browsers) on Android let you install plenty of plugins so you can lock down the browser. With CM or rooted android, you can block ads at a system-wide root level, etc.
It all depends on how paranoid and tech savvy you are, though. iOS is certainly easier to live with.
posted by woof at 8:31 AM on December 9, 2015
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posted by yueliang at 10:40 AM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]