> the author (who works for Microsoft - a company whose operating system basically spies on you non-stop, including sending binaries you run to MS, command line commands, etc)
macOS does this too. For now it appears mostly possible to disable, although disabling some parts may require you to set up a DNS blackhole.
There's also some software on macOS that you simply cannot install without an Apple ID, because the App Store is the only way to get it. And setting up an Apple ID on macOS doesn't just require an email address, but also a credit card (with billing address) and a verified phone number.
That Apple can seriously be considered a user privacy-oriented company by anyone is a pitiful joke.
> It turns out that in the current version of the macOS, the OS sends to Apple a hash (unique identifier) of each and every program you run, when you run it. Lots of people didn’t realize this, because it’s silent and invisible and it fails instantly and gracefully when you’re offline, but today the server got really slow and it didn’t hit the fail-fast code path, and everyone’s apps failed to open if they were connected to the internet.
> Because it does this using the internet, the server sees your IP, of course, and knows what time the request came in. An IP address allows for coarse, city-level and ISP-level geolocation, and allows for a table that has the following headings:
> Date, Time, Computer, ISP, City, State, Application Hash
Would anyone care to actually make an argument how celebrating an OS that phones home about every application you run, all but forces you to create online accounts, and pushes you to store your data on the cloud as ‘pro-privacy’ because its chief competitor is truly outrageously bad does not speak to a serious degradation in our privacy standards?
MacOS and iOS do not "force" or "all but force" you to create online accounts, neither pushes you to use iCloud, and "sends a hash of the binary's cert issuer" is not even remotely the same thing as MS sending the actual binary to themselves.
You have made numerous incorrect statements in this discussion. Please stop.
> MacOS and iOS do not "force" or "all but force" you to create online accounts
How many times in the macOS install/setup wizard do you have to opt out of persistently sending data to Apple or enabling a cloud service? I can think of at least two (analytics and Siri). Do any of them hit you with a pop-up to ask if you're really sure?
What macOS installation media does Apple offer for download to users who do not have Apple accounts?
How many free apps can you download from the Mac App Store before it tells you you need an Apple ID?
> neither pushes you to use iCloud
The macOS default is literally to nag you to ‘start using iCloud’ forever, from the moment you sign in with an Apple ID. This has been so for years now (since Catalina). And it's still that way: https://osxdaily.com/2021/10/30/dont-use-icloud-how-to-remov...
> Okay, but I still don't see any actual forcing. Dark patterns -- indisputably yes. But forcing? Not really.
This is what I meant by ‘all but forcing’, but I can understand how some people might feel that language is too strong. In some ways, that language might be more appropriate for what Microsoft does with, e.g., the Windows installer, where you have to perform installation without network access in order to be provided with the option to log in with a local account rather than a Microsoft account. In others, Microsoft lets users do more without an account, since you can use the MS Store for free apps without an account (or could the last time I used it). Imo, both are awful.
> Oh, and at least you can opt out of data collection.
That's true for at least some forms of data collection, and that's a good thing for sure.
macOS does this too. For now it appears mostly possible to disable, although disabling some parts may require you to set up a DNS blackhole.
There's also some software on macOS that you simply cannot install without an Apple ID, because the App Store is the only way to get it. And setting up an Apple ID on macOS doesn't just require an email address, but also a credit card (with billing address) and a verified phone number.
That Apple can seriously be considered a user privacy-oriented company by anyone is a pitiful joke.