iOS 14.5 wants to keep your internet use well away from Google

New policy routes Safari traffic through Apple servers instead of Google

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Applecontinues to ramp up its privacy policies, after revealing that it will re-routeSafaritraffic through its ownserversto limit how much information Google can collect when its Safe Browsing service is employed. The change will be implemented fromiOS14.5 onwards.

Previously, Apple usedGoogle’s Safe Browsing database to safeguard Safari users from malicious websites, checking URLs against suspected phishing ormalwaresites and issuing a warning when a match was found. However, this means that Google can collect information about a user’s IP address without their permission (although the technology firm is never able to see what specific websites are being visited).

Apple will now proxy its Safari traffic via its own servers to ensure that even less user information gets seen by Google. Maciej Stachowiak, Apple’s head of WebKit engineeringconfirmedthat the change was made in order to “limit the risk of information leak”.

Prioritizing privacy

Apple’s decision to implement this change comes amid a number of other privacy-focused updates. Perhaps the most important change is the launch of a newApp Tracking Transparencypolicy that will requireappsto ask for user permission before tracking individuals across apps and websites. The policy has been criticized by some other major tech firms, including Facebook, for potentially damaging ad revenues.

However, Apple is not the only firm to have upped its privacy game of late.Googleis also working on its ownPrivacy Sandboxinitiative that would block third-party cookies. The policy is currently being investigated by regulators over concerns that it would provide Google with an unfair advantage in the advertising market.

A shift in the privacy debate is certainly no bad thing for end-users, but it could lead to huge shifts in how the internet generates revenue.

ViaEngadget

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Barclay has been writing about technology for a decade, starting out as a freelancer with ITProPortal covering everything from London’s start-up scene to comparisons of the best cloud storage services.  After that, he spent some time as the managing editor of an online outlet focusing on cloud computing, furthering his interest in virtualization, Big Data, and the Internet of Things.

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