There is much talk of differential privacy (Differential privacy in English) once Apple announced the last keynote that was going to use it to improve their services. But really know what this concept? how to implement its operating systems Apple is our data privacy guaranteed? I will try to explain all this and more in the following article.
Virtual attendees: a threat to our data?
Advances in technology are going along a clearly defined path: virtual attendees. We want that our mobile tell us where we are going before you know it ourselves, we tell of our quotations, and that suggest us restaurants according to our preferences and our information. This has a price: must use our data. So our iPhone tell us how long take to get to work when we wake up in the morning according to the traffic of the time you must first know where we work and know what route often used to reach the same. There are two ways to get to know it: we tell it, or he is in charge of collecting our data and do it yourself.
Large companies like Google, Amazon and Apple have clear your bet: we don’t have to do anything, they are responsible for everything. But to do so our iPhone must know at all times where we move, what restaurants tend to visit, what are our musical tastes, and anything else that we imagine. Not to mention access to our emails to find out what travel have earrings, when we will get the package from Amazon, or what is the following quote with our personal trainer.
Siri and Apple privacy policy
Many of us we have complained about how the competition has ahead of Apple in the field of virtual assistance. Amazon and Google have already announced their own devices to give us things at home with its integrated attendants, and Apple has just announced that Siri will open to third-party developers. The Cupertino company was the first to launch his assistant, but however Siri right now is still in kindergarten and others on the verge of graduating.
However, all this has an explanation, and isn’t that Apple has fallen asleep in the laurels, but the company has been always reluctant to use the data of the users to improve their services. Apple has presumed not to use to its users as guinea pigs, while its mass of users would have been perfect for this, however now the things seem to have changed.
Privacy differential, use your data without knowing that are yours
Here is where the differential Privacy: gather data of the global users without knowing who corresponds each data. This is the way to gather information to make your systems more intelligent, but without knowing which individual user is each piece of information. In this way even if someone got access to those data, the privacy of the users would be assured, since no one knows who he is every thing. It is a way to get relevant information without compromising the privacy of users, although it obviously has its limitations.
Apple for example has said that it will not use photos stored in iCloud to improve its system of recognition facial, or objects or places. It is why the recognition of faces and places will not synchronize between devices, but that each application photos will do the job independently in your iPhone and your iPad and your Mac.
It will only be used in four cases and will also be optional
Apple wants to do things slowly on this issue, and therefore differential of time privacy will only be used in four alleged:
- Words added to the dictionary
- Emoji write users
- Deep Links
- Application notes
Apple doesn’t want anybody to see threatened by this function, and in the case that you do not want to use your details for anything, not even in differential privacy mode, then you can always deactivate the function. In fact, Apple has said, it will be something that will be disabled by default and the user will have to give its consent to activate it.
The personal data will continue to be local
But how you going to suggest places to go if you don’t know that I am? For this type of personalized suggestions, as the time to get to work and similar, Apple that uses your personal data, but in this case are not they sent to any server to treat them and use them, but they are stored locally on your device. Is your iPhone who suggests you where to go, or remind you of your next appointment in your agenda, not the Apple servers. It is the way that the company ensure that your details are only yours and that you will not use them to sell to any other company. Not all can make it.
