Thursday, March 28, 2024

The iPhone 11 and iOS 13 Could Throw A Wrench in Facebook’s Data Plan.

August 17, 2019 by  
Filed under Opinion, Tech/Internet, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) SoftBank Mobile’s president Ken Miyauchi recently uttered the iPhone 11’s release window for late September. There’s been a lot of talk about what features the new phone will have for months. Actually, it all starts a little bit after the last iPhone is released. It’s almost as if it had already gotten old month or two later and people are guessing what features the next one will have based off what’s available.

Predictions, Predictions

Then once it gets closer to the fall, details are dropped going in. I will say, there are safe guesses. You know, basic stuff like display size or what kind of display it’ll use. Those are the boring features since they should be added without saying. No, the interesting iPhone news comes from guesses about those unpredictable, very specific features.

Will the iPhone fold? How will it fold? My favorite from a few years ago was the transparent body. I’m not even an iOS fan and it’s a purely cosmetic idea but the idea of a see-through handset sounded cool. It was 2014 or 2015 and we had gotten far along enough with smartphones that a transparent phone didn’t seem unbelievable. As it would happen, it was more of the same from all companies cosmetically.

Well we’re getting into an important feature but one that isn’t cosmetic so it lacks a ton of the razzle dazzle. The important part comes in with how Facebook’s data aspirations are handled by iPhone 11—or rather how this phone manhandles them. We’re talking about the iPhone 11’s beefed up security.

Facebook and Apple Fall Out Over Data

While Apple isn’t specifically targeting Facebook’s approaches at getting personal data, just the degree of which the company has improved both privacy and security will make it hard going for Facebook, Google or any other company to get personal data easily.

One incident that precipitated this was Facebook Research. Originally Onavo, it was an app that was sideloaded onto phones and used to monitor data. This first started in February 2018 and ended in August after it drew attention for drawing hundreds of thousands of users’ data. Apple had to do something resembling damage control and ask that Facebook remove it themselves.

Perhaps this was a bit of good faith. You know, asking a company to put their app down themselves before you have to take it out back and put it down. It does raise the question of how such an app even got through the App Store screening process but never mind all of that. The whole time, this app was active over on Android.

Facebook kept its head down on the “research” front before floating the app as “Facebook Research” since Facebook apps are good to sashay through the front door if it isn’t named suspiciously. Although, “Facebook Research” is pretty damn suspicious in this climate. The app was finally deep-sixed by Apple in January in a very “Didn’t tell you to get rid of that shady sh**?” So it’s banned…which most Facebook apps should deal with to some degree.

Who knows, it might get Facebook in line.

IPhone 11’s Privacy and Security 1-2 via iOS 13

As we know, these two go hand-in-hand. With revelations and each phone that will come out going forward, expect these two to get beefed up regularly. Especially when you considered that between each phone there will be a couple of updates centered on security. Then those updates will continue beyond when the new phones are released.

Since iOS 13 will be the OS for iPhone 11, you can expect some jumps in security to protect your privacy. With the Apple Watch, the company said all your information and health data will remain on the watch itself or encrypted in the cloud. You now have the option to “Sign In with Apple” much like you can “Sign in with Facebook” or Google.

Now, Apple’s way of going about it uses Face ID or Touch ID instead of putting in a password or whatever. When it comes to your location, Apple is ending the whole “Guess Location” thing. There are a couple of other security features that are extended to Mac. The thing is, Apple is taking this seriously. If you’re big on keep your stuff to you and not having your personal information become community information, it might be time to consider an iPhone.

Or take a more active role in protecting yourself online.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.


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