Apple plasters privacy ad on billboard near Las Vegas Convention Center ahead of CES

AppleInsider

Though Apple is not scheduled to make an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, the company is using the event as an opportunity to push its message on privacy and has purchased a large billboard near the city's convention center.

Source: Chris Velazco via Twitter

In an uncharacteristic move, Apple plastered a pithy ad touting the tenets of iPhone privacy on the side of a SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel. The facility overlooks the Las Vegas Convention Center, where throngs of tech industry insiders will gather to network, take in keynote presentations and preview the latest and greatest gadgets.

Spotted by Engadget reporter Chris Velazco on Friday, the black-and-white (but mostly black) ad reads, "What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone." The line, a sendup of Las Vegas' own marketing catchphrase "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas," is accompanied by a line drawing of an iPhone XS and the address of Apple's privacy webpage.

The billboard's location -- standing tall over the heart of CES -- is likely not a coincidence. Attendees will undoubtedly see the sign on their way to or from the event floor, where companies with less scrupulous privacy policies are set to show off their latest wares.

Apple typically refrains from participating in the CES hubbub in an official capacity, though "undercover" employees have been known to prowl the grounds. Instead of taking part in major industry expos, the Cupertino tech giant relies on its own launch events and annual developers conference to shine a light on new products and services.

While Apple does not participate in CES festivities, its presence is nonetheless felt through the innumerable accessory makers building products that jibe with popular Apple devices like iPhone and Mac. Last CES saw a boom in HomeKit-compatible products, from light bulbs to obscure integrations like home shower systems.

AppleInsider will be attending the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show starting on January 8 through January 11 where we're expecting 5G devices, HomeKit, 8K monitors and more. Keep up with our coverage by downloading the AppleInsider app, and follow us on YouTube, Twitter @appleinsider and Facebook for live, late-breaking coverage. You can also check out our official Instagram account for exclusive photos throughout the event.

backstab

These, in various different varieties, should be plastered everywhere. Coast to coast. 

ericthehalfbee

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

k2kw

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No most people will shrug it off.   Apple has been sounding like they are running around saying “The sky is falling.   The sky is falling” when it’s only the price of Apple Stock falling.

sfolax

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No, it's quite wrong actually.

There are many people that take photos while doing naughty things, only to have it pop up on the Apple TV screen saver at home a few seconds later.

hexclock

sfolax said:

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No, it's quite wrong actually.

There are many people that take photos while doing naughty things, only to have it pop up on the Apple TV screen saver at home a few seconds later.

Care to back that assertion up with some evidence? No, I thought not. 

wood1208

Cute poster. Tells the truth.

cornchip

... except whatever you ask Siri... 

Just playing GG’s advocate here, but i get that Apple allows you to opt out of all the iCloud connected features if you want, but for most people, that isn’t actually reality.

entropys

Have fun! Could you check out the carplay aftermarket offerings for us please, AppleInsider!

jbeez17

The time is coming...Apple relied on their laurels where they’re the hardware company that trumps(no pun intended) all. They simply are not that company anymore. Now don’t get me wrong I like my iPhone and Watch. Macbooks are quite crappy now and overpriced. The new iPad Pro is gorgeous but seriously $1000 for 64GB for 12.9?? Joke!! Sorry folks, they’re pricing the average person out their products that do anything more. 

AppleExposed

Weird, Apple never brags about their strengths.

jbeez17 said:

The time is coming...Apple relied on their laurels where they’re the hardware company that trumps(no pun intended) all. They simply are not that company anymore. Now don’t get me wrong I like my iPhone and Watch. Macbooks are quite crappy now and overpriced. The new iPad Pro is gorgeous but seriously $1000 for 64GB for 12.9?? Joke!! Sorry folks, they’re pricing the average person out their products that do anything more. 

THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!

radarthekat

k2kw said:

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No most people will shrug it off.   Apple has been sounding like they are running around saying “The sky is falling.   The sky is falling” when it’s only the price of Apple Stock falling.

And all the while Apple is acting as my agent to buy out any of my partners (co-owners of Apple) who don’t have the confidence in the company’s future I have and Apple management has.  Thank you Apple.  I’m happy owning a larger and larger share of the company’s future earnings.  Every quarter my percentage ownership goes up.  And while the stock price falls on fear, uncertainty and doubt, Apple has just told us that, even with a year-over-year drop in revenues, the company will report its highest ever earnings per share this quarter.  And that reduced share count will yield similar results long into the future; it’s not merely a one-time effect.  

radarthekat

sfolax said:

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No, it's quite wrong actually.

There are many people that take photos while doing naughty things, only to have it pop up on the Apple TV screen saver at home a few seconds later.

Did you say at home?  Did you forget to say this is under the user’s control?  But...  sorry that happened to you.  

radarthekat

I’d like to see Apple snow up at CES.  Not in a booth, but out among the throngs, getting the best pics and videos of the happenings using iPhone cameras.  And maybe directly challenging (trolling) the booth workers of their competition.  Sort of like a roving Pepsi challenge, upstaging anything the competition can bring to the challenge.

cgWerks

"What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.*"

* So long as you don't reside in China, aren't too conservative in your political leanings, the USA doesn't change policy, or said privacy policy ceases to become a big enough marketing advantage in the particular market in which you reside, etc.

cgWerks

radarthekat said:

sfolax said:

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No, it's quite wrong actually.

There are many people that take photos while doing naughty things, only to have it pop up on the Apple TV screen saver at home a few seconds later.

Did you say at home?  Did you forget to say this is under the user’s control?  But...  sorry that happened to you.  

Oh my, heh... given my understanding about how Apple's lame photo sharing solutions work (by default, even?), I can actually see how this kind of thing (and others) could happen.
Just turn it all off, and hope some day a real photo management solution comes along from someone.  

robbyx

hexclock said:

sfolax said:

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No, it's quite wrong actually.

There are many people that take photos while doing naughty things, only to have it pop up on the Apple TV screen saver at home a few seconds later.

Care to back that assertion up with some evidence? No, I thought not. 

I'm sure that's happened more than once with iCloud Photo Library turned on.  But that has nothing to do with privacy.

robbyx

radarthekat said:

k2kw said:

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No most people will shrug it off.   Apple has been sounding like they are running around saying “The sky is falling.   The sky is falling” when it’s only the price of Apple Stock falling.

And all the while Apple is acting as my agent to buy out any of my partners (co-owners of Apple) who don’t have the confidence in the company’s future I have and Apple management has.  Thank you Apple.  I’m happy owning a larger and larger share of the company’s future earnings.  Every quarter my percentage ownership goes up.  And while the stock price falls on fear, uncertainty and doubt, Apple has just told us that, even with a year-over-year drop in revenues, the company will report its highest ever earnings per share this quarter.  And that reduced share count will yield similar results long into the future; it’s not merely a one-time effect.  

People like k2kw have been around forever, always predicting the end, always wrong.  My dad's cost basis is $0.07/share.  You definitely need a strong stomach (and earplugs for people like k2kw) if you're going to invest in Apple because the stock price is never remotely connected to reality.  I don't think there's a company on Earth that more people want to see fail (for who knows what bizarre reason) than Apple.

robbyx

cgWerks said:

radarthekat said:

sfolax said:

ericthehalfbee said:

That is a brilliant ad, and a great play on the Vegas slogan. No doubt this is going to piss off a lot of people.

No, it's quite wrong actually.

There are many people that take photos while doing naughty things, only to have it pop up on the Apple TV screen saver at home a few seconds later.

Did you say at home?  Did you forget to say this is under the user’s control?  But...  sorry that happened to you.  

Oh my, heh... given my understanding about how Apple's lame photo sharing solutions work (by default, even?), I can actually see how this kind of thing (and others) could happen.
Just turn it all off, and hope some day a real photo management solution comes along from someone.  

I assume you're just trolling, but I'm going to ask a serious question.  Is there a better solution on another platform?  Does any other platform offer desktop, cloud, and mobile apps that sync images and edits between them?

mr lizard

Apple’s by far a world leader compared to other tech companies when it comes to privacy. But what happens on your iPhone doesn’t stay on your iPhone, unless you don’t use iCloud and don’t use third party apps.  

iCloud backups are encrypted but Apple has the encryption keys, and can (and does) comply with law enforcement requests to hand over such data

Apple markets apps in its own App Store which collect and process data, sometimes in ways which aren’t clear to the user (there’s a company called Facebook which comes to mind).

Safari does more than probably any other browser in the world to prevent tracking, but it can’t prevent it completely. 

Are any of these things examples of Apple not taking care of their users’ privacy? No, of course not. Especially when it comes to third parties. 

But is stating “what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone” a misleading statement? Could a casual user read that and take it at face value, believing that *everything* they do on their device is somehow protected and guarded in a way that it isn’t on competing devices? Could they think that using Facebook on their iPhone is safer than using it on a competing device, because they believe what happens on their iPhone stays on their iPhone? 

iPhone is the most privacy focused technology device manufactured for the consumer market. That’s something Apple can and should be proud of, and should market the hell out of. 

But what happens on your iPhone doesn’t stay on your iPhone. 

radarthekat

mr lizard said:

Apple’s by far a world leader compared to other tech companies when it comes to privacy. But what happens on your iPhone doesn’t stay on your iPhone, unless you don’t use iCloud and don’t use third party apps.  

iCloud backups are encrypted but Apple has the encryption keys, and can (and does) comply with law enforcement requests to hand over such data

Apple markets apps in its own App Store which collect and process data, sometimes in ways which aren’t clear to the user (there’s a company called Facebook which comes to mind).

Safari does more than probably any other browser in the world to prevent tracking, but it can’t prevent it completely. 

Are any of these things examples of Apple not taking care of their users’ privacy? No, of course not. Especially when it comes to third parties. 

But is stating “what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone” a misleading statement? Could a casual user read that and take it at face value, believing that *everything* they do on their device is somehow protected and guarded in a way that it isn’t on competing devices? Could they think that using Facebook on their iPhone is safer than using it on a competing device, because they believe what happens on their iPhone stays on their iPhone? 

iPhone is the most privacy focused technology device manufactured for the consumer market. That’s something Apple can and should be proud of, and should market the hell out of. 

But what happens on your iPhone doesn’t stay on your iPhone. 

I’d say not everything that happens ‘via’ your iPhone stays on your iPhone.  Like, oh, say... posting on Facebook or twitter or instagram, for example.  But then, I suspect folks know that if their friends are seeing their Facebook posts and people are following their twitter feeds, those people are not doing so by sneaking up behind us and looking at own iPhones over our shoulders.  I’m confident most people know what they post online is actually, you know, online, and not safely encrypted out of sight on their iPhone.  But what actually happens on your iPhone, for all intents and purposes, is held private.  The spirit of the advertisement’s message is intact.