Taking Back Our Privacy From Smartphones (Final Version)

What’s Being Tracked

Actionable Steps

Conclusion

So far as privacy is concerned, the differences between iOS and Android devices are not substantial. All the devices are meant to surveil their "owners," and the operating systems are designed to make those surveillance possibilities available to entities loading "approved" or "unapproved" code into handsets over the network. There are some significant differences in the backend ecologies that are based on all that common spying, but you do not actually discuss any of them here. To that discussion, therefore, the iPhone itself is entirely epiphenomenal.

The marketing of the iPhone as jewelry signaling the target's social status, on the other hand, has nothing to do with the privacy concequences, which are the same whether the device is expensive or less expensive (all computing in that form factor is relatively very expensive compared to equivalent forms of computing in different hardware packages, which is part of why the comuting of the poor is so much more expensive than the computing of the rich). The same is true whether it uses a fully proprietary or partially free operating system. So all the pother about people's "beloved iPhones" may very well be relevant to an explanation of their consumption choices without actually telling us anything about the future of the Net.

It seems to me, therefore, that the real direction of the essay isn't an investigation of the relative success of one handset manufacturer. Perhaps the question is whether people whose life habits center around the use of a smartassphone as their primary computer can enjoy enhanced or restored privacy without changing their basic device preference. That would lead you to look into how to use smartassphone hardware without connecting it to Apple, Google or other platform services. That would be good learning for you and highly informative for other readers.

Why are these not ordinary links, anchored to the correct phrases in the ext so that the reader can use the Web as intended, by clicking on references directly? We are writing for and on the web, the wiki makes linking trivial. Why wiould we make things hard for the reader?

Status Over Privacy: The Apple iPhone

-- By DahwitBerhanu - 20 Oct 2024

Introduction

In 2011, roughly one-third of Americans owned a smartphone. Today, that number has climbed to nine-tenths of the population. Of the many Americans who presently own smartphones, more than half use the Apple IOS operating system. What explains the strong preference for Apple smartphones over its peer competitors has little reason to do with a superior operating system or affordability (neither of which are true). Instead, the strong preference for Apple devices has to do with what it represents…status.

Status and the Apple Ecosystem

Since its inception in the fall of 2007, the Apple iPhone has come to signify a certain lifestyle and financial status. With iPhones starting at a premium of $999, it quickly becomes puzzling how so many Americans are able to afford such expensive products. Startling however is the fact that millions of Americans are not forking over such large dollar amounts upfront. Instead, roughly 55% of Americans who own iPhones finance such payments—ultimately incurring debt just to get the latest gadget. Compelling Americans to go into debt just to be able to obtain their products, Apple has managed to cultivate a status symbol around its products.

Status symbols, by their very nature, are external indicators of an individual’s financial and social status. Status symbols come in many forms. Luxury cars, designer clothes, mansions, and high end watches are all status symbols. Most importantly, such status symbols are material possessions intended to convey a certain perception of oneself. With the Apple iPhone, the question then becomes what status does such a product represent? Besides signaling financial status, the iPhone signals that you are a part of the Apple ecosystem.

The Apple ecosystem is exclusive in form, most evident in the way those with iPhones interact with those who don’t. Apple’s messaging and video operating system with its many features and distinct experience is not accessible to Android users. IPhone users are unable to video call their friends using Apple’s proprietary software but instead must overcome hurdles and download third-party apps such as Skype or Zoom just to video chat. More prominent is the texting feature. Among iPhone users, texts appear in blue—a color psychologically linked with feelings of tranquility, trust, and security. However, should an iPhone user text an Android user, texts appear in a bright green color—signaling to those involved the lack of an Apple IOS device. Due to the lack of compatibility with iPhone users, an outsider perception is born. Rejecting non-iPhone users from partaking in the simple functions of texting and video calling their iPhone owning friends, those not compatible are ultimately excluded. Thereby tyrannizing non-iPhone users, a choice must be made, continue to exist excluded from those around you or conform and become a part of the Apple ecosystem. From less than 30% of smartphone operating systems among Americans in 2012 to more than 53% present day, Apple has managed to convince the majority of Americans to act on feelings of insecurity and exclusion to assimilate to the ecosystem.

Implications

Besides demonstrating that Apple has successfully invaded the minds of millions of Americans and convinced them of the social cachet of iPhones, the Apple iPhone has revealed an incredibly profound observation about the way in which Americans interact with electronic devices. The fact that more than half of iPhone users are willing to incur debt to finance such purchases demonstrates the complete submission of ourselves to these products. The social branding Apple has managed to cultivate around iPhones proves itself to be too strong to resist. With Americans unable to resist the temptation of purchasing such devices, it would seem logical to conclude that little concern is minded to the behavior manipulation and data tracking such devices are able to achieve. However, this is not the case. Per a Pew Research Center survey, roughly 80% of Americans expressed concern about how companies use the data collected. Despite such concerns, it is clear that the American population cares little about doing something about it. Far from giving up their beloved iPhones and Apple devices, Americans have instead accepted defeat and continue to purchase iPhones in ever increasing numbers year after year. Whether it is because Americans believe the benefits of iPhone ownership outweigh the costs of data collection and behavior modification or because Apple has cultivated too irresistible a cultural and social significance, it remains cemented in American culture that iPhones are not going anywhere anytime soon.

That being said, what then can be done about this? Convincing Americans to get rid of their beloved iPhones will prove to be as impossible as taking away any American right enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Instead, and perhaps at the very least, advocates should educate the millions of Americans who own smartphones on responsible phone use. Teaching Americans how to modify app permissions, manage location services, opt-out of data sharing features, and minimize data collection on social media platforms all serve as plausible solutions many Americans will conceivably be more willing to try than simply downgrading their devices to a flip-phone or no phone at all. With roughly 75% of children owning smartphones by the age of 12, schools could also adopt instructional programs on responsible smartphone use. Regardless of the many possible approaches concerned advocates wish to take, the simple fact remains that the Apple iPhone has managed to convince millions that social status and the Apple ecosystem are more important than individual privacy. Thus, any hope of a different future requires striking a balance between the status afforded such devices and data privacy.

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