On Monday night, Tim Cook said this in Washington: Apple’s Tim Cook Delivers Blistering Speech On Encryption, Privacy http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/02/apples-tim-cook-delivers-blistering-speech-on-encryption-privacy/ I read about it on https://news.ycombinator.com/ And, as those who know me can probably guess, I made some snarky comments about Apple. I argued that meaningful privacy can't depend on trusting Apple. And so Apple must allow pseudonymous accounts, established through VPNs and Tor, and must not require personal information (such as address or cellphone) or identification documents (as Facebook, for example, does). It must also be possible to pay for stuff using Bitcoins, which can be anonymized. Got me downvoted, but not (yet) killed Anyway, I am gobsmacked! The online Apple Store is extremely Tor-friendly, I find. There are no CAPTCHAs. In creating Apple IDs, there are no requests for personal information. Gift cards purchased with Bitcoins are recognized. So that provides access to software and online help. One still needs to buy gear more or less anonymously. But that's arguably possible via resellers (or at worst, used from private sellers). Using ever-changing Tor exit IPs does trigger account locks, and that requires password reset. But that's arguably a feature, and not a bug. It's possible that, with time, that will lead to a request for a cellphone number. Time will tell. Maybe Apple is actually walking its privacy talk. That would be very cool
I'm kind-of surprised that MS aren't making similar noises in this respect, because at least nominally, their business model isn't dependent on advertising (sorry Bing) - though Skype is getting increasingly annoying in that respect. But perhaps their government/corporate ties, and ambitions to want to have the One Ring to own your online personal identity doesn't provide a good basis to start from(!)
They still need to secure iCloud storage so that Apple can't decrypt stuff. That's a fatal flaw in the iOS story. Unless you don't use iCloud, anyway.
