Apple may be the privacy leader, but it's not doing enough

The App Store and Mail still have glaring holes.

- JASON SNELL

For years now, Apple has trumpeted its commitment to the privacy of its customers. Unlike most of its competitors, Apple’s business model (primarily selling products and services, not advertising) allows it to succeed without relying on collecting personal information from its customers. It’s a big advantage, and Apple knows it.

But when I look at Apple’s product strategy, I’m surprised at all the ways that the company has failed to take advantage of its unique position. From operating system features to new services, the company should double down on privacy—and widen the lead it has over its competitors.

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Apple has done a pretty good job of managing privacy inside Safari. Using the web leaks information in some fundamental ways, but Apple has done a lot to reduce the amount of tracking and profiling that can be done when you’re using Safari. And of course, Apple’s new tracking policies (fave.co/3A2zDil) have made Facebook very, very angry.

But the company can do more. Last week, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber pointed out the privacy issues in Mail (fave. co/3A4WDgu). Messages can have embedded trackers in the form of invisible images, and by default Apple Mail loads those images.