Support NeoGAF

[CyberPanda]

Apple last week unveiled a new Sign In with Apple option, offering up a convenient, privacy-focused alternative to sign-in options from companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

Apple collects no data and provides little data to the apps and websites you use with the feature, and it even offers an option to keep your email safe. In an interview with The Verge, Google product management director Mark Risher, who oversees Google's secure sign in tool, shared his thoughts on Apple's new feature.

Risher says that Google's own tool is not as data hungry as it was made out to be, and that it's not used for advertising or re-targeting. "There was a bunch of innuendo wrapped around the release that suggested that only one of them is pure and the rest of them are kind of corrupt, and obviously I don't like that," he said.

The only moment logged is the moment of authentication, according to Risher, info that's not distributed anywhere. Risher also suggested Apple's feature is more invasive because it will be logging emails received from companies when the email obscuring feature is used. "We'll see how the details work out," he said.

Risher went on to explain that Google tries to "set a very high bar" but is judged by the "worst behavior" in the Android ecosystem. He said the innuendo from Apple that Google's tool is less privacy focused "was a little annoying" because Google is "trying to really hold [itself] to a high standard."

Ultimately, Risher said that he believes the technology will make people safer.

I honestly do think this technology will be better for the internet and will make people much, much safer. Even if they're clicking our competitors button when they're logging into sites, that's still way better than typing in a bespoke username and password, or more commonly, a recycled username and password.

Risher likened log-in protection offered by Google and Apple to storing money in a bank to alleviate fears people might have about having all of their login data handled by a single company like Apple or Google.

People often push back against the federated model, saying we're putting all our eggs into one basket. It sort of rolls off the tongue, but I think it's the wrong metaphor. A better metaphor might be a bank. There are two ways to store your hundred dollars: you could spread it around the house, putting one dollar in each drawer, and some under your mattress and all of that. Or you could put it in a bank, which is one basket, but it's a basket that is protected by 12-inch thick steel doors. That seems like the better option!

Risher's full interview with is available on The Verge website and is worth checking out, but Google today is also making its own privacy-focused feature announcement for iOS users - the ability to use an Android smartphone as a two-factor verification key for logging into Google accounts.

Starting today, iPhone and iPad users with an Android smartphone can use the Android security key feature to verify their logins to Google accounts from the Android device.

Google Login Chief Lauds Apple Sign In as 'Better for the Internet,' Says Google's Sign In Feature Doesn't Collect Data Either

Apple last week unveiled a new Sign In with Apple option, offering up a convenient, privacy-focused alternative to sign-in options from companies...

www.macrumors.com

 

[Deleted member 740922]

"Apple collects no data and provides little data to the apps and websites you use with the feature"

(I know nothing about programming.) What's in this for Apple? Does it just make them look to be the good guys? A chance to disrupt Google / Facebook etc?

 

[CyberPanda]

"Apple collects no data and provides little data to the apps and websites you use with the feature"

(I know nothing about programming.) What's in this for Apple? Does it just make them look to be the good guys? A chance to disrupt Google / Facebook etc?

A lot of people care about privacy these days, and Google is notorious for collecting your data, and selling it to third parties. Apple doesn’t do that, from what I am aware of. And even if they did, it’s nothing to the degree that Google is doing it at.

 

[Dontero]

Look more people doing this so it is industry standard and you can't sue us.
I almost detached myself from google. I am just looking now for good free mail system and will be completely free.

 

[llien]

Apple merely tracks users movements, even when phone is not connected to internet and than "for some reason" reports all that crap to Apple servers.

But sure they don't "track you" when you log in.

 

[entremet]

A lot of people care about privacy these days, and Google is notorious for collecting your data, and selling it to third parties. Apple doesn’t do that, from what I am aware of. And even if they did, it’s nothing to the degree that Google is doing it at.

To clarify.

Google’s business model is based on targeted advertising. They can target you by collecting personal data.

Their clients are ad buyers and you are the product they sell. That’s what pays for their services, not you, the product.

Apple is a hardware and services company, but they don’t sell ads.

The issue for privacy geeks here is the selling of that data, not having that data. Of course, Apple has your data. That’s obvious.

The concern is who else gets that data. This is something that Facebook has lied about tons of times.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Fuck these hypocrits.

"We gun ban hauwei for collecting data. We know they do, because we found out while collecting data"

 

[Luffytubby]

"Apple collects no data and provides little data to the apps and websites you use with the feature"

(I know nothing about programming.) What's in this for Apple? Does it just make them look to be the good guys? A chance to disrupt Google / Facebook etc?

The Verge had a great video on it, from last year. The companies align on a lot of fronts, but there is a big difference between them. And it matters a lot:





Lack of Privacy is why some Google products are way better than Apples. Google Assistant is better than anything because Google collects everything. Siri is much more limited because it has much less to work with. The plethora of data Google has, is a weapon in and of itself. Apple plays this strategy because they are in no position to win over Google by using their strategy. So Apple positions themselves as the trustworthy and ethical. Apple has ulterior motives, but lots of people in the tech industry feel that Apple is on the right side of this issue, even if they are wrong on many others.

 

[n0razi]

Fuck these hypocrits.

"We gun ban hauwei for collecting data. We know they do, because we found out while collecting data"

Ummm Google didn't ban Huawei..... that's on the Trump administration

 

[chromhound]

He's so funny...