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OS X Yosemite preview gleans user data, too

  • 8 October 2014
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Jasper_The_Rasper
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That's how betas work


By Gregg Keizer Computerworld | Oct 8, 2014
 
Microsoft isn't the only one running a preview program that collects data from participants: so does Apple.
OS X Yosemite's public beta -- the sneak peek Apple launched on July 24 -- collects a variety of data from users who download and install the preview.
"In order to test and improve Apple's products and services, and unless you opt out as set forth below, you acknowledge that Apple and its subsidiaries and agents will be collecting, using, storing, processing and analyzing (collectively, 'Collecting') diagnostic, technical, usage, and/or related information from your computers that are running pre-release versions of OS X as part of this Beta Program," Apple states in the preview's program agreement (download PDF).
If that sounds similar to the terms Microsoft spelled out for its Windows 10 Technical Preview, it should not be a surprise: Most beta agreements make comparable collection claims, since, again not a shock, developers release previews to gather feedback -- manually or not -- about how their software is being used, what it's being used with, and what persistent problems it has.
 
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R
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The following article is a update
(Privacy Criticism Hits OSX Yosemite over Location Data)
by Dennis Fisher/ Posted on 10/20/2014
 
Apple has fixed a huge number of security vulnerabilities in OS X and iTunes and, at the same time, is being hit with criticisms about privacy issues in the new version of OS X.
The latest version of the operating system, known as Yosemite, sends location information to Apple by default via the Spotlight search feature, something that has angered users and privacy advocates. Yosemite was released to users on Oct. 17 and within hours users began reporting that highly specific location data was being sent from their machines back to Apple. The feature that enables this data collection and transmission is Spotlight, a powerful search function in OS X that in Yosemite now has the ability to return search results not just from the user’s Mac, but also from iTunes, the App Store and the Web
 
 
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Dermot7
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By Russell Brandom
 
This morning, The Washington Post called out an unexpected privacy concern in Apple's new Yosemite operating system. Apple's Spotlight application, previously used to index material on a user's hard drive, has added a new Suggestions feature that points to external sites relevant to a given search term. As the Post article points out, that means search terms have to be transmitted back to Apple with a lot of extra information, including location data that the Post found to be precise enough to pin down a specific building.
 
But on closer inspection, many of the claims are less damning than they seem. There's already a public privacy policy for the new feature, as well as a more technical look at the protections in the most recent iOS security report.
 
Does Yosemite have a privacy problem? Not exactly | The Verge

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