The head of Apple is clear. Following Craig Federighi’s intervention at the Web Summit in which the executive stated that “sideloading destroys security and puts the user at risk”, Tim Cook has given the same message in the context of the New York Times DealBook event.
The importance is that we can continue to choose
Much has been said that users should have the option to choose to sideload. Tim Cook responds to this clearly by stating that we already have that choice right now: “users who want to do sideloading can use Android”.
“I think people have that option today Andrew, if you want to sideload, you can buy an Android phone. That option exists when you walk into the carrier store. If that’s important to you then you should buy an Android phone. From our point of view, it would be as if I were a car manufacturer telling you [a un cliente] not to put airbags and seat belts in the car. I would never think of doing this today. It is too risky to do that. And so it wouldn’t be an iPhone if it didn’t maximize security and privacy. “
As Craig already commented, the truth is that, far from adding the possibility of choice, having to allow sideloading on the iPhone and lowering the security of the system would achieve that those of us who choose Apple platforms for their security and privacy would lose this choice. The user is not favored to choose, the other way around.
“Sideloading is a criminal’s best friend.”
Sideloading, the best friend of cybercriminals, according to Craig, would allow apps to bypass the protections of the system itself. We are used to the fact that apps cannot access photos without our permission. It is something that we take for more than sitting. An app installed from the internet or third parties could access Photos, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders and much more without our knowing or being able to do anything to prevent it.
Something similar happens with the App Tracking Transparency. Now we can deny IFA access to apps. By doing so we make it extremely difficult for apps to track us. This mechanism would disappear completely in apps installed through sideloading. What’s more, they could even access other identifiers of the device’s hardware to be able to track us more effectively.
Regarding this App Tracking Transparency and the report that users have decided to stop giving data to companies worth 10 billion dollars Tim Cook answered the following:
“I don’t know the estimates, Andrew, so I can’t testify to those kinds of numbers, but I think that from our point of view, privacy is a basic human right. And the people who should decide whether to share data are the person themselves. . What we have done is empower the user. We are not making the decision, we are simply asking them if they want to be tracked in all applications or not. And, of course, many of them are deciding not to. they never wanted to be, they just didn’t have a choice before. I feel great and I’m getting great feedback from users about having this option. “
Clearly, in the end, it all comes down to being able to choose. As Tim Cook says, if sideloading is important to us, we can choose platforms that allow it. Meanwhile, many of us will surely choose to continue at Apple, where something as simple as that an app cannot access our entire library without our consent, is something we value.