New Phone for 170 USD

[Redpossum]

As the saying goes, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink".

View attachment 9035

That's fine, never mind the evidence...

Frank? Have you failed to notice that that chart doesn't identify the units?
Apple 12 and Google 39 what?

 

[FrankPintor]

Frank? Have you failed to notice that that chart doesn't identify the units?
Apple 12 and Google 39 what?

I pulled the chart out of the article I quoted, where they do make it clear the "units" are "types of private data". They don't enumerate the 39 types Google collects, but they do say:

"Besides users’ information, Google stores a significant amount of data on several domains. If it is data, there is a strong probability that Google is collecting it. This includes anything from users’ specific location to your browser history. Moreover, it stores user activity on third-party websites or apps and the emails on users’ Gmail accounts".

Just for balance, here's an up to date article about what Apple collects from its users: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/apple-privacy-data-collection. It's nowhere as much as Google.

I know it's boring when I link articles to support my arguments that nobody, or at least not @Redpossum, reads anyway, rather than going on about how many years of experience I have, or how I know people in government (I know I'm throwing shade at @earlyretirement here, I hope he doesn't mind too much), but that's how I prefer it.

I'll tell a story anyway... a long time ago I worked on the development and testing program for the first iPhone models. As development progressed, and testing became insufficient to replicate the wide variety of scenarios found by users in their normal daily use on live networks, my company developed a tool to store the last 10s of data (network messages, debug data, etc) in a buffer, so that if the phone crashed, this data would be available for analysis. We used this and other tools to identify locations for stress testing, I have traumatic memories of a week spent blasting up and down a turnpike outside Philadelphia waiting for the prototype iPhone to crash every time it passed a certain network antenna.

Apple then decided to roll this into a a more general tool, developed by Cell IQ from Canada (if memory serves), which would geolocate the phone crash and add useful information about the network configuration and conditions at the time of the crash. I was assigned to interface between my company and Apple, and I had serious misgivings, I didn't want to be the one to facilitate a tool that would spy on iPhone users. I was very relieved when the first meetings with the assigned Apple engineer were to specify which information would identify a user and to remove it from the data package to be analysed. That's how I know Apple take this topic seriously, And if you believe me, don't let it be because a random guy on the internet who knows people in government and tells a good story told you so , let it be because of the boring articles saying Apple collect way less information than Google, and allow you to control how much you share.

PS: nowadays, companies like OpenSignal (who bought their competitor Tutela a while back) collect information from mobile phones (they have "hooks" built into most popular apps) which can be used to optimize network and phone performance. Facebook Analytics is another popular tool for doing this. I'm still confident Apple is managing the information sharing.

 

[carride]

"Besides users’ information, Google stores a significant amount of data on several domains. If it is data, there is a strong probability that Google is collecting it. This includes anything from users’ specific location to your browser history. Moreover, it stores user activity on third-party websites or apps and the emails on users’ Gmail accounts".

Just for balance, here's an up to date article about what Apple collects from its users: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/apple-privacy-data-collection. It's nowhere as much as Google.

I completely agree that Apple collects less data than Google. I also respect and trust them more as a company to handle the data they collect about me. The user interface and design is more pleasing. I use top line iPad and iPad mini, an aging Apple MBP and a new beefed up Linux build. Primarily Firefox, with Chrome at a minimum. These are mostly for in the house, or longer away from home travels.

I have less needs for a phone when out and about. I like to interact with people and surroundings when mobile. The phone is a utility to find locations, browser search for something I must know at that moment, message and call only the high priority. GPS off except when navigating. Connected to my own VPN servers at all times, and carefully investigate installed apps. Bluetooth and NFC off when not needed. The price of mid tier android does those things and fulfills my requirements for a variety of devices.