Pop-up notifications are often annoying. For Meta, one in Apple's iOS operating system, which powers iPhones, is a particular headache. On February 2nd Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, told investors that privacy-focused changes to iOS, including the "ask app not to track" notification, would cost the company around $10 billion in 2022. That revelation, along with growing competition and sluggish growth in user numbers, helped to prompt a 23% plunge in Meta's share price and showed Apple's might. But what did Apple actually do, and why was it so costly?

While Apple Inc. reportedly works on technology for its iPhones to detect depression and cognitive decline, new data shows most of the public does not yet trust technology to help track health and well-being.

Apple and Google removed an app meant to coordinate protest voting in this weekend's Russian elections from the country on Friday, a blow to the opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin and a display of Silicon Valley's limits when it comes to resisting crackdowns on dissent around the world.

On Thursday, a judge ruled that Apple will have to continue fighting a lawsuit brought by users in federal court in California, alleging that the company's voice assistant Siri has improperly recorded private conversations. He ruled that the plaintiffs, who are trying to make the suit a class action case, could continue pursuing claims that Siri turned on unprompted and recorded conversations that it shouldn't have and passed the data along to third parties, therefore violating user privacy. The case is one of several that have been brought against Apple, Google and Amazon that involve allegations of violation of privacy by voice assistants.

Apple has delayed plans to roll out its child sexual abuse (CSAM) detection technology that it chaotically announced last month, citing feedback from customers and policy groups.

Apple's plan to digitize your wallet is slowly taking shape. What started with boarding passes and venue tickets later became credit cards, subway tickets, and student IDs. Next on Apple's list to digitize are driver's licenses and state IDs, which it plans to support in its iOS 15 update expected out later this year.

Apple will roll out a technology that will allow the company to detect and report known child sexual abuse material to law enforcement in a way it says will preserve user privacy. This move has already come under fire from privacy whistleblower Edward Snowden and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

The iPhone’s incoming mobile ID feature will use selfie biometrics for identity verification, suggests code uncovered by 9to5Mac. The news indicates that Apple will be even more directly in competition with other major pioneers of mobile ID solutions.

The mobile ID feature was first announced by Apple during its Worldwide Developer Conference in June of this year, when the company revealed that it planned to let iPhone users add virtual versions of their driver’s licenses to the Apple Wallet app after the iOS 15 operating system is launched. The company also indicated that it’s working with the Transportation Security Administration to get the virtual ID approved for use as an official identity document at airports.

Europe's tech chief Margrethe Vestager on Friday warned iPhone maker Apple against using privacy and security concerns to fend off competition on its App Store, reasons CEO Tim Cook gave for not allowing users to install software from outside the Store.

Apple has begun testing passkeys, a new authentication technology it says are as easy to use as passwords but vastly more secure.

A compelling Apple ad promoting the new privacy feature for "Do not track" in iOS.

Interesting perspective:

Apple has brazenly, in broad daylight, stormed into the Bank of Facebook, looted its most precious resource, and, camouflaged under the noble cause of giving privacy controls to the consumer, fled the scene.

It seems that in the United States, at least, app developers and advertisers who rely on targeted mobile advertising for revenue are seeing their worst fears realized: Analytics data published this week suggests that US users choose to opt out of tracking 96 percent of the time in the wake of iOS 14.5.

A new feature is being introduced to iPhones and iPads this week which is causing a huge rift between Apple and Facebook: It will allow device users to say no to having their data collected by apps.

Apple is sharing a "A Day in the Life of Your Data" document that details how third-party companies can track user data across websites and apps.

“If a business is built on misleading users on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, then it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform.”

In an exclusive interview, Apple’s CEO talks about how privacy threats change behavior, tech’s role in igniting extremism, and why “Big Tech” is a misnomer.

Apple uses now privacy labels to inform users about some of the data types an app may collect, and whether that data is linked to them or used to track them. And a picture comparing those privacy labels for different messaging apps (Signal, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messanger) is quite interesting.

If your phone is going to replace your wallet, then someone needs to solve the identity problem.

The Apple-Google design has been promoted as being more privacy-centric.

A recommendation of privacy-friendly apps for use with iPhones and iPads.

Apple's updated operating system will now show you how often your location has been recorded and by which apps. It will do this proactively via a pop up, which shows a map of where you have been tracked, including the option to allow or limit it.

The Data Transfer Project wants to make it easy to move data between services but be sure to read comments from Paul-Olivier Dehaye and Lasse Rouhiainen on the data-sharing project as well!

An impressive encryption system, only possible through Apple's nontrivial market share in hardware.

Apple announced a new Sign in with Apple button as part of its iOS 13 announcements and is marketing this as a privacy-secure sign-in option.