Apple sued for its privacy stance towards its employees.
Rushil Agrawal from Android Authority:
Apple, the tech giant that has built its reputation on safeguarding customer privacy, is now facing a lawsuit that claims its own employees aren’t getting the same treatment. Amar Bhakta, an employee in Apple’s advertising technology division, has accused the company of prying into workers’ personal lives through iCloud accounts and non-work devices.
The main issue here is the blending of personal and work iCloud accounts, and Apple “actively discouraging” the use of separate iCloud accounts:
The heart of the issue seems to be Apple’s policy of requiring employees to use Apple devices for work, which, combined with restrictions on company-owned devices, often leads employees to use their personal iPhones and Macs. This, in turn, necessitates the use of personal iCloud accounts, allegedly exposing personal data to company scrutiny.
For employees who’d rather not have their personal lives exposed, the alternative isn’t much better. The suit claims Apple “actively discourages” setting up separate iCloud accounts for work purposes, making it nearly impossible to avoid this blending of work and personal data.
Active discouragement of employees to use separate iCloud accounts for work will be what the case will revolve around.
Could just be a controlling manager, or something much bigger.
Not a good look for Apple.
Rushil Agrawal from Android Authority:
Apple, the tech giant that has built its reputation on safeguarding customer privacy, is now facing a lawsuit that claims its own employees aren’t getting the same treatment. Amar Bhakta, an employee in Apple’s advertising technology division, has accused the company of prying into workers’ personal lives through iCloud accounts and non-work devices.
The main issue here is the blending of personal and work iCloud accounts, and Apple “actively discouraging” the use of separate iCloud accounts:
The heart of the issue seems to be Apple’s policy of requiring employees to use Apple devices for work, which, combined with restrictions on company-owned devices, often leads employees to use their personal iPhones and Macs. This, in turn, necessitates the use of personal iCloud accounts, allegedly exposing personal data to company scrutiny.
For employees who’d rather not have their personal lives exposed, the alternative isn’t much better. The suit claims Apple “actively discourages” setting up separate iCloud accounts for work purposes, making it nearly impossible to avoid this blending of work and personal data.
Active discouragement of employees to use separate iCloud accounts for work will be what the case will revolve around.
Could just be a controlling manager, or something much bigger.
Not a good look for Apple.
People know your Wi-Fi password, and it can get you hacked.
With iOS 16 and later, Apple has made it a lot easier to find your Wi-Fi password and other Wi-Fi passwords that you have connected to.
With iOS 18, it’s way easier since you can do it from the Passwords app.
I didn’t even know you could look at a Wi-Fi password when someone shares it with you, until I looked at the Wi-Fi category in the Passwords app.
I went to a relative’s house recently who likes to keep a low profile, and they are always reluctant to share their Wi-Fi password. They don’t even keep bluetooth on, so they have to manually type their password into my phone or my kids’ devices whenever we come over.
Once he entered the password on my iPhone, I just went into the Passwords app, went under the Wi-Fi category, and voila! There was the password.
They were surprised to find out how I knew it, but it shows you why you need to make sure that password is not used anywhere else. A lot of people (around 78%) use the same password for multiple accounts, and if you’re using your Wi-Fi password for something else, now is a good time to change it.
With iOS 16 and later, Apple has made it a lot easier to find your Wi-Fi password and other Wi-Fi passwords that you have connected to.
With iOS 18, it’s way easier since you can do it from the Passwords app.
I didn’t even know you could look at a Wi-Fi password when someone shares it with you, until I looked at the Wi-Fi category in the Passwords app.
I went to a relative’s house recently who likes to keep a low profile, and they are always reluctant to share their Wi-Fi password. They don’t even keep bluetooth on, so they have to manually type their password into my phone or my kids’ devices whenever we come over.
Once he entered the password on my iPhone, I just went into the Passwords app, went under the Wi-Fi category, and voila! There was the password.
They were surprised to find out how I knew it, but it shows you why you need to make sure that password is not used anywhere else. A lot of people (around 78%) use the same password for multiple accounts, and if you’re using your Wi-Fi password for something else, now is a good time to change it.
Are RCS messages encrypted?
The short answer is no, but the devil is in the details.
With iOS 18, Apple has introduced RCS messages, which is a new industry standard in messaging that allows you to send high quality videos and photos instead of those abysmally low-resolution photos and videos you currently send to your fellow Android users.
RCS also supports delivery and read message receipts just like iMessage.
In a nutshell, it makes your interaction with non-iPhone users more like iMessage, while still keeping the green bubble.
Not all carriers support RCS, but remember one thing.
One very important thing.
RCS is not end-to-end encrypted.
According to Apple’s site:
Apple’s implementation of RCS is based on the industry’s standard. RCS messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted, which means they're not protected from a third-party reading them while they're sent between devices.
Besides the messages themselves, What other sensitive information about you can be transmitted when using RCS?
More than you think:
User identifiers are exchanged for your carrier and their partners to authenticate your device and provide a connection. These identifiers could include but are not limited to your IMEI, IMSI, current IP address, and phone number. Your current IP address might also be shared with other RCS users.
It’s funny how all the news around RCS focuses on high end photo and video transmission, but no one emphasizes that it is just as insecure as regular SMS/MMS.
If you really want to have secure group chats that allow high quality images and videos, stick with a more secure platform such as WhatsApp.
Or better yet, you could just convince your friends to get an iPhone and use iMessage, which is end-to-end encrypted.
The short answer is no, but the devil is in the details.
With iOS 18, Apple has introduced RCS messages, which is a new industry standard in messaging that allows you to send high quality videos and photos instead of those abysmally low-resolution photos and videos you currently send to your fellow Android users.
RCS also supports delivery and read message receipts just like iMessage.
In a nutshell, it makes your interaction with non-iPhone users more like iMessage, while still keeping the green bubble.
Not all carriers support RCS, but remember one thing.
One very important thing.
RCS is not end-to-end encrypted.
According to Apple’s site:
Apple’s implementation of RCS is based on the industry’s standard. RCS messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted, which means they're not protected from a third-party reading them while they're sent between devices.
Besides the messages themselves, What other sensitive information about you can be transmitted when using RCS?
More than you think:
User identifiers are exchanged for your carrier and their partners to authenticate your device and provide a connection. These identifiers could include but are not limited to your IMEI, IMSI, current IP address, and phone number. Your current IP address might also be shared with other RCS users.
It’s funny how all the news around RCS focuses on high end photo and video transmission, but no one emphasizes that it is just as insecure as regular SMS/MMS.
If you really want to have secure group chats that allow high quality images and videos, stick with a more secure platform such as WhatsApp.
Or better yet, you could just convince your friends to get an iPhone and use iMessage, which is end-to-end encrypted.