Apple phone home
When you hear Microsoft do ’something evil’ chances are Apple users are quick to snicker at Windows users and proclaim superiority of Apple’s OSX. Well, hang on to your horses because it appears that Apple has taken a page out of Microsoft’s books.
Recently, there’s been some outcry that the ‘Windows Genuine Advantage’ programme phones home everyday. Well, with the recent release of OSX 10.4.7, Apple has added a little feature that also phones home to report information about your Mac.
Called the Widget Advisory, the invisible program checks which widgets you have at activation, as well as their version information, and submits the info to Apple, which checks to see if they’re all up-to-date. If not, you get a prompt to update your software.
Blogger Daniel Jalkut first highlighted it and says that although Apple doesn’t seem to be doing anything really ‘evil’, they really should be more transparent and at least give users the option of turning it on or off:
In an era when consumers are being encouraged to take responsibility for their own safety in the interconnected world, Apple and others should respect the boundaries of our “digital house” by at least keeping us in the loop about what is being done on our behalf. I can find no documentation about what Apple is choosing to send and receive on a regular basis from my Mac. Keep me in the loop, Apple. And if I’m not comfortable with it, give me an option (short of Little Snitch) for turning it off. It’s my computer, after all.
Yup, it’s our computers Apple. And luckily the Cult of Mac blog has published instructions on how to disable the Widget Advisor. Meanwhile, if you want to investigate further, you’ll want to download a copy of Little Snitch, the app that Daniel used to discover Apple phone home in the first place.
Update (10 July)
Apple has responded:
Apple takes protecting user privacy very seriously. The Dashboard Advisory feature is a security tool that ensures that the correct version of a widget has been downloaded from a third-party site and no personal information is transmitted back to Apple
You would’ve saved yourself a whole lot of trouble if you had notified us upfront, Apple.
3 Comments
When Apple put the MiniStore out the Mac Faithful refused to believe there was anything more to it than a nasty PR blunder. Apple made a few small changes without explaining or addressing any of the more serious issues that were raised, and the headlines read “Apple Does The Right Thing!”.
Apple still refuses to answer direct questions about the MiniStore, but nobody seems to notice or care.
So has Apple made the same PR blunder twice?
Somehow I don’t think that’s what’s going on here, and the way it worked out for them last time, I’m not sure I’d call it a blunder.
Apple learned an ugly truth last January, and a bad precedent was set. As long as they can say you might benefit somehow from them sticking their nose in your HD, they don’t need your permission, you don’t need to be informed, and if you do find out and ask questions, they are under no obligation to give you any details about what they took or what they did with it.
Lets face it, by plan or by blunder, everybody is being conditioned to accept the idea that just because it’s your computer doesn’t mean the information on it is private, or yours.
It’s not the information about my widgets that worries me, It’s the precedent that is being set.
How many posts have you read defending Apple that start with “Applications ABC and XYZ already do something like this, so quit complaining.” ?
Because of the Ministore they can say that about Apps that phone home, phone third parties, send information about what file on your HD you are accessing at this moment, and add a personal identifier to the transmission. The benefit to you? Advertising on your desktop. Now with this update they can add “and they don’t have to give you a way to turn it off”.
Accessing data on your HD is not addressed in Apple’s “Privacy Agreement”, and Apple has refused to comment on the fact. Why?
Right now the information is about music files and widgets, so nobody has a problem with it. Once the precedent is set, where will it go? By the way, once it’s set, the precedent applies to other companies as well. Quicken Office your ISP “JayDub” & the boys in DC You can’t say it’s OK for Apple, and still keep everyone else out. Not for long.
Lampie
Well said Lampie. You\’re right that the main issue is the precedent that\’s been set. All we can do is hope and petition that Apple listens and acts more responsibly in the future I guess. Either that or switch to Linux.
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