Home Technology At WWDC 2019, Apple touts Sign-In convenience without privacy hit

At WWDC 2019, Apple touts Sign-In convenience without privacy hit

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Bud Tribble, vice president of Apple’s software technology business, says even free services need to respect users’ privacies, a shot at Google and Facebook.

With its new Sign In with Apple — an alternative to single sign-on services offered by rivals Facebook and Google, unveiled at the company’s WWDC keynote — Apple says it’s offering a new way to vouch for your identity with your favorite apps or services.

But it’s more than that. Sign In is also a direct challenge to the idea you need to “pay a heavy privacy price” for the convenience of a sign-on service, says Guy “Bud” Tribble, vice president of software technology at Apple. While its rivals track you so they can keep tabs on your online activities and collect personal info, Apple and CEO Tim Cook have said that privacy is a “fundamental human right.”

“It’s not rocket science to say, ‘Hey wouldn’t that be great to have that without the tracking part of it,'” Tribble said in an interview after the new service was unveiled to applause at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. “Our whole point of view is giving more control to the user over things like their data.”

As part of the sign-in service, Apple will also generate a random email linked to third-party apps if you don’t want to give up your own email. That way app developers can stay in touch without actually capturing your address. Sign In will work on Macs, the Apple Watch and iOS, the mobile operating system that powers the iPhone and iPad.

It’s also part of Apple’s ongoing plan to make privacy one of its key selling points in direct contrast to its rivals, which use sign-on services to help craft a profile of users so they can better serve lucrative, targeted ads as part of what some are calling surveillance capitalism. Since Apple generates its revenue from the sale of devices and services, and not ads, it isn’t as interested in your information.

 

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