Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Mobile & Wireless

Apple Touts Privacy Features of New Operating Systems

Apple on Monday said new operating systems powering its mobile devices and computers would include features designed to thwart the use of secret trackers to monitor people’s online activities.

Apple on Monday said new operating systems powering its mobile devices and computers would include features designed to thwart the use of secret trackers to monitor people’s online activities.

The announcement by Apple comes amid a growing focus on protecting privacy following a Facebook data scandal and new rules being enforced by the European Union for online services.

Apple, kicking off its annual developers conference, announced that coming versions of software powering iPhone and Mac computers will block the use of so-called “cookies” from “like” buttons that can follow people from one website to another.

“Turns out ‘like’ buttons and ‘comment’ fields can be used to track you, so this year we are shutting that down,” Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi told a standing-room crowd of some 6,000 developers at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in the heart of Silicon Valley.

New MacOS Mojave and iOS 12 software to be release later this year will also make it harder to use trackers to create “unique fingerprints” by gleaning data about devices being used, according to Federighi.

“It will become dramatically more difficult for data companies to identify your device and track you,” Federighi said.

“We are bringing all these protections to both Mojave and iOS 12.”

Enhanced privacy was part of a slew of improvements touted by Apple to developers, whose creations are key to the popularity of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Apple’s software upgrades also include features that help users understand how much time they are spending on their devices, amid concerns of growing smartphone “addiction.”

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Artificial Intelligence

Two of humanity’s greatest drivers, greed and curiosity, will push AI development forward. Our only hope is that we can control it.

Mobile & Wireless

Infonetics Research has shared excerpts from its Mobile Device Security Client Software market size and forecasts report, which tracks enterprise and consumer security client...

Mobile & Wireless

Samsung smartphone users warned about CVE-2023-21492, an ASLR bypass vulnerability exploited in the wild, likely by a spyware vendor.

Malware & Threats

Apple’s cat-and-mouse struggles with zero-day exploits on its flagship iOS platform is showing no signs of slowing down.

Fraud & Identity Theft

A team of researchers has demonstrated a new attack method that affects iPhone owners who use Apple Pay and Visa payment cards. The vulnerabilities...

Mobile & Wireless

Critical security flaws expose Samsung’s Exynos modems to “Internet-to-baseband remote code execution” attacks with no user interaction. Project Zero says an attacker only needs...

Mobile & Wireless

Apple rolled out iOS 16.3 and macOS Ventura 13.2 to cover serious security vulnerabilities.

Cybersecurity Funding

Los Gatos, Calif-based data protection and privacy firm Titaniam has raised $6 million seed funding from Refinery Ventures, with participation from Fusion Fund, Shasta...