@voltronic

I also question how a conclusion of "six of one, half-a-dozen of the other, toss a coin" — even though outdated and seeming less than completely accurate — is "sobering". To whom? Why?

@mcfate
It's "sobering" how much data is being shared with trackers and advertisers on either platform.

To your other points:

I didn't read this study as saying the data was interchangeable between iOS and Android; clearly it's not. I read this as: neither one is GOOD and protecting privacy.

Apple can claim lower percentages, yes. But that's like saying "we'll sell 10-15% less of your soul to our corporate partners. Isn't that GREAT?"

@voltronic

Do we have different understandings of the meaning of the phrase "no better"?

Because my understanding of "no better" is "just as bad", which is not the same as "able to claim lower percentages".

"Able to claim lower percentages" IS "better". Right?

@mcfate
As far as iOS 14.5 and its opt-in tracking:

That may have made a difference, and it sounds like this study will update when they have more info. But there is always going to be an update from one platform or another while any such study is ongoing. Results have to be realized sometime, right? Now if an update has the potential to significantly change the results and those conducting the study refuse to revisit it, then that would be a legitimate beef.

@voltronic

You said "no better".

I said this is already utterly outdated for 90+% of iOS users, and, in actual fact, the actual data says it IS better.

So, should someone concerned about privacy buy the phone that had the lower statistics BEFORE they made some major changes to enhance privacy, or the one with the higher statistics (where you can't count on timely system updates, but that's ANOTHER sad story...)...?

@voltronic

This Android data is from February, Google doesn't publish it any more. 80% of the Android devices out there are still running versions that are older than Android 10. Half are running "Pie" or "Oreo".

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/lkkrn4/android_version_distribution_chart_feb_2021/

@voltronic

In contrast, about 75% of iOS devices are running v14.5 or newer.

https://gs.statcounter.com/ios-version-market-share/

@mcfate
I said no such thing. It was the title of the Tom's Hardware article as you can see in the screenshot.

Are you on Apple's payroll? Anytime sometime posts an article that mentions Apple, but is not heaping glowing praise upon them, you come in like a PR spokesperson on a cable news interview with tu quoque statements directed toward Android and their users.

@mcfate
And right on cue, there you go.

@voltronic

Look, I can disagree with the premise of your posting on rational grounds, which I've backed up with data.

You can get mad and accuse me of being a shill.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@voltronic

Just so we're clear, what I regularly object to is the regular claims you make — at first or second hand — that iOS is somehow "worse for privacy" than Android, because I very much don't believe that the data supports that.

As I keep saying.

@mcfate
For the record, the only time in recent memory where I made a claim that Apple is doing something demonstrably worse for privacy than Android is with the local scanning capability going into effect in iOS 15. And no, I don't feel like rehashing that again now.

That aside, I acknowledge that Apple has historically been more privacy-focused than Google. I'm not an idiot; I know full well what I signed up for when I chose that phone platform.

@voltronic

Gee, it's bizarre that we keep getting into the same argument over and over.

"And right on cue, there you go."

For the record.

😶

@mcfate
Google is one of the biggest data collectors and brokers out there, on both platforms.

And that right there is the point. If you are letting these big data collectors access your users through their phones, then neither company cares about use privacy anymore. They both SUCK, and data showing that Apple may suck slightly less doesn't change the overall conclusion.

@voltronic

You said "no better". Less is better.

Look, Apple actually manufactures things. The Goog is a wholly unethical organization, Android is largely stolen goods, and a "study" predicated on a version of an OS that a single-digit percentage of people are currently running is inane.

But please ask me if I work for Apple again, it's adorable.

@voltronic

I literally posted a screen shot where you said iOS was "no better" than Android.

Here, I can post it again. "iPhone aps no better for privacy than Android". You said it was "sobering". Still no idea why, though

I'm not on anyone's "payroll" but my own, you know that.