https://privacyinternational.org/guide-step/4335/macos-opt-out-targeted-ads
Look in the system preferences app. There’s a whole section for opting out of Apple collecting advertising data about you. That’s the preferences app of the ENTIRE OS.
Meanwhile, Apple’s application APIs set advertisements as a core feature:
- https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corebluetooth/cbperipheralmanager/advertising_data
- https://developer.apple.com/documentation/adsupport/asidentifiermanager/1614151-advertisingidentifier
They may be letting you opt out for now, but this is an early phase of the enshittification cycle. First, they attracted users by promising privacy. Now they’re attracting advertisers by dangling in front of them an expanded user base. It won’t be long until Apple will make opting out more complicated and difficult because they think they can make more money selling more data to advertisers. They’ll do it slowly. Every time saying “they’re giving consumers more granular control over their privacy” when really they’re just “creating opt-outs for things you didn’t use to have to opt out of” or “creating opt-outs that used to be part of a larger opt out.” Someday will come “we’ve eliminated opt-outs” and eventually “here’s an advertising banner at the bottom of all default apps”
That’s the preferences app of the ENTIRE OS.
Well, at least it’s apparently all in one place instead of being scattered into several different apps’ settings like with Android. Android has its Privacy Dashboard, but, from what I’ve seen, it doesn’t begin to sufficiently cover privacy.
None of what you’re saying has to do with handing over user’s data to police and government officials without a warrant - every other smartphone OS vendor does it, except Apple, so I’ll continue to use their devices because they protect my data, and their products are well-made and integrate with each other well.
Your slippery slope fallacy is funny, though. Sure, Apple is just as guilty as every of vendor of using it’s users data to enrich it’s services, but they still put UI/UX at the forefront compared to others - their design system is certainly better than Android’s material design. Google apps aren’t even designed with one-handed bottom screen mobile navigation. Apple’s modal-based system where each section’s last state is preserved and maintain’s it’s own back gesture timeline is far more intuitive than Android’s system-wide back-gesture, which throws the user all over the place.
