WASHINGTON, DC – Today, The Tech Oversight Project released the following report exposing Apple’s hypocritical ad campaigns – painting itself as the unquestioned privacy leader among Big Tech’s giants. In reality, the U.S. v. Google trial has brought to light just how intertwined the business operations of Apple and Google have become, and the negative impact that has on iPhone users who do value privacy.
According to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Google’s policy on surveillance and tracking is “to get right up to the creepy line.”
“Every time an iPhone user opens up Safari and researches new restaurants or their next vacation, Google is stalking them and mining massive amounts of data from their search history and locations,” said Kyle Morse, Deputy Executive Director of the Tech Oversight Project. “Apple spent millions to paint a picture that iPhones are synonymous with digital privacy, but in the context of Apple’s default search agreement with Google, their ad campaigns are outright lies. Tim Cook and company sold Apple’s customers up the river in this hush-hush, hundred-billion-dollar deal because they thought they would never get caught. Apple would rather fight the Justice Department tooth and nail to ensure details of their hypocritical agreement never see the light of day because users will recognize that better, more secure options are out there.”
Apple Claims to Be a Leader in Privacy Policy
- In 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook penned an op-ed for Time calling on consumers to “stand up for the right to privacy.” Cook called on Congress to pass “comprehensive federal privacy legislation.” Cook has said that internet advertising engages in “surveillance” of consumers, which is Google’s bread and butter.
- In its ads, Apple curated a reputation as a privacy stalwart. Apple ads told consumers that “what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone,” and equated its products with security through slogans like “Privacy. That’s iPhone.” In a 2023 ad, Apple boasted that the iPhone’s health app helps you control who sees your health data.
- In 2021, Apple claimed to be rolling out “major new privacy protections for iPhones and iPads. The iOS 14.5 software update included a feature that would ask users whether they wanted to allow apps to track their activity across other apps and websites. In a video explaining the new feature, “Some apps have trackers embedded in them that have more data than they need–sharing it with third parties like advertisers and data brokers. They collect thousands of pieces of information about you to create a digital profile that they sell to others.”
- In 2023, Apple launched a new “Today at Apple” class called “Privacy on iPhone.” Apple released a five-minute film with Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed going about his day with an Apple Specialist explaining Apple’s features help protect his data.
U.S. v. Google Exposed Details of Google & Apple’s Hundred-Billion-Dollar Default Search Engine Agreement
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- Google pays Apple billions of dollars to secure its place as the iPhone’s default search engine in its Safari browser. In 2022 Alphabet was estimated to pay Apple as much as $20 billion to be the search engine of choice on Safari. Other estimates put the amount at $8 billion to $12 billion. When iPhone users search on Google, they see the search ads that drive Google’s business. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has defended the payments, calling it a “standard” deal.
- In January 2023, the DOJ filed a civil antitrust suit against Google for monopolizing multiple digital advertising tech products. A key focus of the trial is on the agreements Google has made with other companies, including its deal with Apple to make Google the default search engine on the iPhone’s Safari.
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- The DOJ argues that these arrangements created overwhelming barriers to entry for rival search engines to compete with. The government could argue that the billions of dollars Google spends on this deal shows just how valuable it sees that placement to be.
- The DOJ called CalTech professor Antonio Rangel as a witness to argue that search engine defaults produce a “sizable and robust bias” toward the preselected option.
- The DOJ found that nearly half of Google’s search traffic came from Apple devices. The prospect of losing the Apple deal was described as a “code red” scenario inside the company. DOJ is asking for a court injunction preventing Google from entering into deals like the one it made with Apple.
- In its opening arguments, the DOJ highlighted privacy concerns related to Google. The government argued that, “Without competition, Google refuses to offer credible protection for user data.” The government said it would provide direct evidence that Google “has ignored privacy concerns because they’re not facing credible competition.” Discussing Google’s deal with Apple, the government argued that this deal means Apple can’t offer browser choice or privacy modes with rival search engines.
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- Google’s smaller search engine rivals, like DuckDuckGo, are boxed out by Apple’s exclusive deal with Google.
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- DuckDuckGo centered its search business on privacy and ensuring users aren’t tracked, unlike Google, which tracks users for targeted advertising. Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGo’s vice president of public affairs, said, “Google has used its monopoly power to block meaningful competition in the search market by putting a stranglehold on major distribution points for more than a decade. So even though DuckDuckGo provides something extremely valuable that people want and Google won’t provide–real privacy– Google makes it unduly difficult to use DuckDuckGo by default.”
- Other online businesses like Yelp and Expedia have complained that Google’s search domination enables it to charge ad fees when people simply look up their names.
Google Is the Worldwide Leader In Data Mining, Consumer Tracking, & Surveillance
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- Google’s business model relies on tracking and monetizing massive amounts of user data. Google collects data including browsing behavior, Gmail and YouTube activity, location history, Google searches, online purchases, and more.
- Google has faced repeated lawsuits for its poor handling of user data.
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- In 2022, the Attorneys General of Texas, Washington, Indiana, and DC sued Google for tracking users’ locations after consumers believed they had disabled that feature.
- In 2021, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sued Google over its “deceptive and unfair” location tracking policies that violated user’s privacy rights. The suit alleged that Google tracked users’ location across third-party apps and still gathered that information even if location services were off. The suit resulted in Google paying an $85 million settlement.
- In 2020, Google faced multiple class action lawsuits in California over its data tracking practices. An October 2020 class action lawsuit in California alleged that Google continued to track users’ locations even after they switched off the location history feature. A second 2020 class action lawsuit in California alleged that Google continued collecting data on users while they were in “incognito mode.”
- 40 states reached a $391.5 million settlement with Google after the company was caught continuing to collect data related to users’ whereabouts even after they thought they had turned off location tracking in their account settings.
- Google hid that it inadvertently exposed user data. Google willfully kept information about exposing users’ data from the public, fearing regulatory scrutiny. A software glitch gave outside developers access to private Google+ profile data between 2015 and 2018. An internal memo warned that disclosing the incident would trigger “immediate regulatory interest.”