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I would even go further and say that Apple doesn't care about anything other than making money by making good products. As more and more people begin to be concerned about privacy, Apple takes steps to try to reassure them that the phone is still a safe platform in which they can store private information such as photos, personal messages, address books, banking information, etc. Neither does Apple want a lot of annoying requests for tracking from interfering with their UI. For them, it is all about improving the experience of using the phone, nothing more.

But there is no core value that is anti-tracking or anti-ad, and all of these policies can be reversed the moment they no longer post a threat to people's enjoyment of Apple products.




I don't think Apple's "pro-privacy" stance is solely about improving the experience about using their products. They're certainly very aware a focus on privacy and security makes a great product differentiator for them, but from all appearances, it's not just fluff when Apple executives say they believe privacy is a fundamental right. I'm not intending to be Pollyannaish about Apple specifically, either; I think most companies have some set of core values distinct from profit-seeking, and will try and stick by them as long as (a) the profit-seeking and the values don't come into serious conflict, and (b) the executives at the top continue to believe in those values.

So I don't think those policies are in danger of being reversed based on "threat to enjoyment"; I think they're more in danger of being reversed based on "measurable threat to profit" somewhere down the road -- but probably most in danger of being reversed, long-term, by executive shuffle.


The caring about money part is exemplified by this story. IMO this is one of the biggest stories in tech recently, but sadly never got traction on HN:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/21/22385859/apple-app-store-...


Apple has been pro privacy for decades.

They even called out google and Facebook 10 years ago and were vilified for it.




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