iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

A billboard outside Las Vegas declares, “What Happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone,” as part of a massive push by Apple to define the brand as one that stands up for your privacy. You may have noticed the advertising. A TV spot from Apple declares: “There is more private information on your phone than in your home. . . Your location, your messages, your heart rate after a run; these are private things, personal things, and they should belong to you.” As emotive music swells over those last lines, I’m not left inspired. Instead, I feel a sense of dystopia at living in a world where an elite brand like Apple sells you your own privacy as if it were a luxury commodity. Surely nothing should be more obviously a private possession than the right to possess privacy. Yet, there is money to be made in selling privacy, and that is a sure sign that we do not own it by rights. But what exactly is Apple selling? I’d like to discuss a few of the more common fears and annoyances associated with privacy, as well as what Apple is doing and what you can do to protect yourself.