Too bad the BS writer and Click Bait Editor from the Washington Post do not have the backbone to explain how they got things so wrong. Like good pyro maniacs, they start the fire then run and hide while the damage is done and leave it up to others to clean up their mess.
The most interesting thing about this is each Spotlight search that replaces a Google search has the potential to improve your online privacy.
Apple's explanation seems reasonable. I'm satisfied that this is not being used to profile This is used to provide and probably provide a degree of context for follow up searches. I trust Apple not to abuse this because their business model is not dependent on it.
It's the profiling and tracking between websites that I find the most creepy. I recommend everyone install the Ghostery extension, block everything and navigate to some well-known websites. It's a horror show. No consent obtained and no obvious mechanism to have it explicitly withdrawn.
A feature like this should be opt in, not opt out.
Maybe. But, having read Apple's description of how it handles the data, I think that opt-out is OK. Especially since the disclosure is so clear and up-front.
On OSX, clicking on /SysPrefs/Spottlight/About... gives you this:
[quote]About Spotlight Suggestions & Privacy
When you use Spotlight, your search queries, the Spotlight Suggestions you select, and related usage data will be sent to Apple. Search results found on your Mac will not be sent. If you have Location Services on your Mac turned on, when you make a search query to Spotlight the location of your Mac at that time will be sent to Apple. Searches for common words and phrases will be forwarded from Apple to Microsoft's Bing search engine. These searches are not stored by Microsoft. Location, search queries, and usage information sent to Apple will be used by Apple only to make Spotlight Suggestions more relevant and to improve other Apple products and services.
If you do not want your Spotlight search queries and Spotlight Suggestions usage data sent to Apple, you can turn off Spotlight Suggestions. Simply deselect the checkboxes for both Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches in the Search Results tab in the Spotlight preference pane found within System Preferences on your Mac. If you turn off Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches, Spotlight will search the contents of only your Mac.
You can turn off Location Services for Spotlight Suggestions in the Privacy pane of System Preferences on your Mac by clicking on “Details” next to System Services and then deselecting “Spotlight Suggestions”. If you turn off Location Services on your Mac, your precise location will not be sent to Apple. To deliver relevant search suggestions, Apple may use the IP address of your Internet connection to approximate your location by matching it to a geographic region.
Information collected by Apple will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at www.apple.com/privacy. [/quote]
Which may be of use to some.
And then there is that other article on that newspaper site: "How Google Search is changing to fight online piracy"
Really don't get the hysteria about privacy. It's amazing how many people think that their lives are somehow interesting enough to be digitally tracked by Big Brother.
The trouble is that some (think Google, NSA) logs are retained for a very long time, allowing retroactive lookup of your entire history, with or w.o. warrant.
Much ado about nothing but in terms of my own use, I only want Spotlight to return my own files. As it is, I find Spotlight to be too broad. It should really prioritize results so that where the searched term appears in the filename, those results should be sorted first.
If I want to search the web, I'll use the browser. I can't imagine any situation where I'd want to search both at the same time.
It doesn't necessarily search the web, but suggest content based on what you're typing. That, plus some pretty cool features like currency conversion which I use daily.
It's as simple as typing 50usd and I will get the conversion to pounds (being in the UK), it's so effortless than having to open a browser and search for that.
The suggestions work only to known content providers, like Wikipedia, iTunes etc. so it will effective search there, but it's not a normal web search like what you would do on Google.
I hope this author doesn't use google or facebook. Both use searches to generate revenue by selling to 3rd parties to create custom ad banners in the case of Google. I dread to think what facebook do with all of those personal bits of data we trade for the ability to publish our latest antics on line. These are 'real' privacy concerned not imagined by some authors looking to sensationalise thief story! I seem to remember someone summarising facebooks Ts and Cs in plain English and it made for scary reading as I think they classes publishing on Facebook the same as putting things into the public domain which meant they could do what they wanted with the data. However people seem fine with that!
A feature like this should be opt in, not opt out.
I agree. Spotlight has always been a local disk search, so if they are changing it to be an Internet search too, they should ask you. They should display a popup the first time you use it, asking "Do you want Spotlight to search only your local computer or the Internet too?" and then it should remember that setting. They shouldn't just automatically start sending the names of files you are looking for to Microsoft.
Its underhand. Its sneaky. Its an invasion of my privacy. Its none of their business. To turn it off I have to go to TWO places. Safari and System Preferences.
Yesterday I searched Google for a local funeral home. Two minutes later I did a search for a photograph. Google results came only from images of dead people from obituary websites. All I did was put in a name. Google, no one likes to FEEL watched. It was eerie and uncomfortable.
Much ado about nothing but in terms of my own use, I only want Spotlight to return my own files. As it is, I find Spotlight to be too broad. It should really prioritize results so that where the searched term appears in the filename, those results should be sorted first.
You can set the priority yourself, it's customisable. Under Settings>General>Spotlight Search you can re-order the categories however you wish as well as disabling any you don't want. And I'm pretty sure web results are at the bottom by default, so it's only Spotlight Suggestions which outrank local results.
The NY TIMES will publish their version this afternoon saying it's China's fault. FOX will follow with an expose on Al Gore, Michelle Obama and vaccination.
Both Spotlight and Microsoft Bing Live search on Windows catalogues your device to gain an advantage over Google. I expect that the more data they have on you the more relevant the search and thus selling iAds etc gets more lucrative.
There is certainly no such thing as a free lunch, even with a premium cost device. Though the customer always seems part of that lunch menu.
Comments
Too bad the BS writer and Click Bait Editor from the Washington Post do not have the backbone to explain how they got things so wrong. Like good pyro maniacs, they start the fire then run and hide while the damage is done and leave it up to others to clean up their mess.
The most interesting thing about this is each Spotlight search that replaces a Google search has the potential to improve your online privacy.
Apple's explanation seems reasonable. I'm satisfied that this is not being used to profile This is used to provide and probably provide a degree of context for follow up searches. I trust Apple not to abuse this because their business model is not dependent on it.
It's the profiling and tracking between websites that I find the most creepy. I recommend everyone install the Ghostery extension, block everything and navigate to some well-known websites. It's a horror show. No consent obtained and no obvious mechanism to have it explicitly withdrawn.
A feature like this should be opt in, not opt out.
Maybe. But, having read Apple's description of how it handles the data, I think that opt-out is OK. Especially since the disclosure is so clear and up-front.
[quote]About Spotlight Suggestions & Privacy
When you use Spotlight, your search queries, the Spotlight Suggestions you select, and related usage data will be sent to Apple. Search results found on your Mac will not be sent. If you have Location Services on your Mac turned on, when you make a search query to Spotlight the location of your Mac at that time will be sent to Apple. Searches for common words and phrases will be forwarded from Apple to Microsoft's Bing search engine. These searches are not stored by Microsoft. Location, search queries, and usage information sent to Apple will be used by Apple only to make Spotlight Suggestions more relevant and to improve other Apple products and services.
If you do not want your Spotlight search queries and Spotlight Suggestions usage data sent to Apple, you can turn off Spotlight Suggestions. Simply deselect the checkboxes for both Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches in the Search Results tab in the Spotlight preference pane found within System Preferences on your Mac. If you turn off Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches, Spotlight will search the contents of only your Mac.
You can turn off Location Services for Spotlight Suggestions in the Privacy pane of System Preferences on your Mac by clicking on “Details” next to System Services and then deselecting “Spotlight Suggestions”. If you turn off Location Services on your Mac, your precise location will not be sent to Apple. To deliver relevant search suggestions, Apple may use the IP address of your Internet connection to approximate your location by matching it to a geographic region.
Information collected by Apple will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at www.apple.com/privacy.
[/quote]
Which may be of use to some.
And then there is that other article on that newspaper site:
"How Google Search is changing to fight online piracy"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/10/20/how-google-search-is-changing-to-fight-online-piracy/
Really don't get the hysteria about privacy. It's amazing how many people think that their lives are somehow interesting enough to be digitally tracked by Big Brother.
The trouble is that some (think Google, NSA) logs are retained for a very long time, allowing retroactive lookup of your entire history, with or w.o. warrant.
It doesn't necessarily search the web, but suggest content based on what you're typing. That, plus some pretty cool features like currency conversion which I use daily.
It's as simple as typing 50usd and I will get the conversion to pounds (being in the UK), it's so effortless than having to open a browser and search for that.
The suggestions work only to known content providers, like Wikipedia, iTunes etc. so it will effective search there, but it's not a normal web search like what you would do on Google.
Mr Bezos you say?
Surely there can't be any ulterior motive behind this fact-lite click bait....
A feature like this should be opt in, not opt out.
I agree. Spotlight has always been a local disk search, so if they are changing it to be an Internet search too, they should ask you. They should display a popup the first time you use it, asking "Do you want Spotlight to search only your local computer or the Internet too?" and then it should remember that setting. They shouldn't just automatically start sending the names of files you are looking for to Microsoft.
Its underhand. Its sneaky. Its an invasion of my privacy. Its none of their business. To turn it off I have to go to TWO places. Safari and System Preferences.
Does, by any chance, this "rapport" originate from a windows freak ?
Why is AI not reporting the alleged attempt by China to harvest users login information and breach iCloud security?
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/10/20/apple-china-security-idUKL2N0SF2UX20141020
So much for Tim Cook's efforts to cooperate with the Chinese. They don't seem very grateful.
Happens to the fats of us.
Much ado about nothing but in terms of my own use, I only want Spotlight to return my own files. As it is, I find Spotlight to be too broad. It should really prioritize results so that where the searched term appears in the filename, those results should be sorted first.
You can set the priority yourself, it's customisable. Under Settings>General>Spotlight Search you can re-order the categories however you wish as well as disabling any you don't want. And I'm pretty sure web results are at the bottom by default, so it's only Spotlight Suggestions which outrank local results.
I expect that the more data they have on you the more relevant the search and thus selling iAds etc gets more lucrative.
There is certainly no such thing as a free lunch, even with a premium cost device. Though the customer always seems part of that lunch menu.