Apple continues to make the privacy of its users a number one priority.
The US technology firm recently announced a swathe of innovations aimed at giving consumers more control over their devices and the personal information that’s shared online.
A good example of this initiative is the new Sign in with Apple feature which allows users to quickly and easily sign up to new online services without having to share any personal data.
Sign in with Apple can even create a unique email address that forwards any correspondence to the user’s real address, meaning digital firms never know who they actually are.
Other new features recently released include alerts to warn you if apps on your iPhone are accessing your location. You can also now control whether you reveal a photo’s metadata when you share it.
With so many of us now storing such sensitive information on our devices, concerns over digital privacy and data protection have never been more prominent.
Many of the gadgets we use on a daily basis, including our smartphones, are packed with data about our lives and recent high profile hacks have highlighted the issues we all face in this high-tech era.
Apple has always been incredibly upfront about what data it stores and how it uses this information but it’s now launched an update to its website to help customers fully understand how seriously it takes this security and what new features can help protect your data.
The new information, which can be found at apple.com/uk/privacy now features seven white papers which give full transparency to consumers on a number of important issues.
These four white papers include Safari, Photos, Location Services, and Sign In With Apple
Each one is full of advice on how to keep yourself more secure and how all of the recently released features work.
As part of its Privacy Overview page, Apple states: “Privacy is a fundamental human right.
“At Apple, it’s also one of our core values. Your devices are important to so many parts of your life.
“What you share from those experiences and whom you share it with, should be up to you.
“We design Apple products to protect your privacy and give you control over your information.
“It’s not always easy. But that’s the kind of innovation we believe in.”
Some good examples of the way Apple sets out to keep your data private include full end-to-end encryption on all correspondence that are sent between devices via iMessage and FaceTime.
This means only those involved in the conversation can read or see what’s being said.
Apple also states information on trips using its Maps software or queries made via Siri aren’t gathered, stored or ever used by third parties and all sensitive data such as fingerprints and facial recognition are only held locally on a device.
If you use Apple Pay it’s also good to know that Apple doesn’t keep a history of your spending or where you shop.
And to make sure your credit card information is safe, a device-specific number is created and kept walled off from the rest of your iOS device. Neither Apple nor your device shares actual credit card numbers with merchants.