Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company

Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by paxys on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @08:46AM (#20094407)

I am clearly in the minority here but I think "Sign in with Apple" is terrible for consumers. You keep your email address hidden from service providers, sure, but you are also placing your online identity entirely in the hands of Apple. If you get on the wrong side of Apple's algorithms, there is zero recourse. At least in the case of Facebook and others the third party still has your email address so you can always start using that to identify yourself.

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by srfilipek on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @08:53AM (#20094466)

> If you get on the wrong side of Apple's algorithms, there is zero recourse.

I don't follow what you're implying.

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by CamelCaseName on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @09:11AM (#20094603)

I think I understand the GP.

Let's say I sign up for an online game using Apple's secure sign in because I don't want to share my information.

Some time passes, and I've invested 250 hours into the game, when Apple decides to ban my account for whatever reason (perhaps I've refunded too many apps, maybe the credit card that pays my Apple Music expires, my country gets sanctioned by the US gov. etc.)

Apple would, presumably, shut down email services for me. Meaning, I won't be able to log into that game any longer. With no alternative log in method (which would defeat the purpose of using Apple's sign in) I would likely lose access to that game forever.

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by alextheparrot on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @09:36AM (#20094846)

Isn’t this just a general SSO problem - I assume the same would happen if someone signs on with Google/Facebook/Twitter and is banned from one of those services?

Is the idea here that there’s a higher chance of this account type being banned without recourse because of the number and type of ecosystem interaction points (App Store, subscription services, etc.)?

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by foobiekr on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @10:07AM (#20095147)

Unlike Google, where high-profile Twitter shaming is basically the only effective technique for resolving issues, for consumers the Apple stores are a legitimate place to go and complain.

It’s not perfect but on the spectrum of bureaucratic chaos, Apple is a lesser offender.

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by paxys on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @10:58AM (#20095637)

In all those cases you are barred from logging in, sure, but the service still has your email address so the account is still "yours".

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by arien on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @10:02AM (#20095090)

You can choose to share your email with each developer or not, so if you feel particularly attached to a service you can disable the email obfuscation. Or sign up withouth Apple ID if you know beforehand.

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by pedrocx486 on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @09:01AM (#20094524)

If Apple decided you're a bot and deletes your account, everything tied to it will also go.

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by redbergy on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @09:05AM (#20094557)

This is true for Google, Facebook, and Twitter logins as well. It's a valid criticism for using any third party authentication provider (which I personally avoid and will be avoiding Apple's).

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by paxys on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @11:02AM (#20095670)

The login provider doesn't store the service account itself, so it's possible to "eject" your account and use some other sign in mechanism as long as you have control over the email address.

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Re:Apple is now a privacy-as-a-service company by redbergy on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @09:03AM (#20094541)

If you're worried about that for a particular service you don't have to anonymize your email address – in fact it's opt-in not opt-out. When signing up it will use your real email address for the service or you can check a box to provide an anonymized one for free as shown in the keynote.

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