Apple Slams Google, Facebook Over Privacy; Reveals 'Sign In With Apple'

Largely untouched by scandalous privacy violation issues hounding Facebook and Google for years, Apple Inc. has taken its fight for user privacy to the device level.

At the Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC 2019) Monday, Apple revealed a new login platform called “Sign In with Apple” that lets users log in to outside apps with FaceID.

Sign In with Apple also has the option of hiding a user’s real email address and instead gives each app a randomly generated email address. It also gives app developers a throwaway email address to use instead of their personal email.

During its presentation at WWDC 2019, Apple showed the logos of Google and Facebook with a list of personal information both companies collect. Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi referred to this data gathering as “abuse” when developers use WiFi and Bluetooth signals to determine a user’s location without access to GPS. Apple said the iPhone will shut the door to this practice.

Apple claims this move protects privacy better than do Google or Facebook. Both these tech firms also use data from sign-in services to sell ads around the internet at the expense of user privacy. The solution to this, said Apple, is Sign In With Apple.

The launch of Sign In with Apple bolsters the company’s ongoing campaign to focus its marketing and engineering efforts around protecting user privacy. This move takes on more significance since Apple is expanding beyond the iPhone into software and subscription services where security is paramount.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has also often criticized Google and Facebook for the way they handle, or mishandle, user privacy.

Sign In With Apple will work across Apple devices, including Macs and iPhones, but only with apps that have been updated to support the feature.

the company quietly updated its developer guidelines on Monday to say “apps in the kids category may not include third-party advertising or analytics.”

Apple said this is all part of differentiating Apple from what Cook calls “the other guys.”

Analysts said Apple wants to make sure consumers know its priorities lie in protecting their data privacy. In January, Apple began running TV ads and erecting billboards highlighting the importance of privacy.