What Apple Knows About You

Educate

September 21, 2020

Understand Your Data from Apple

See the guide on getting your data from Apple here if you haven’t already downloaded your data

Here is the first of a few posts designed to give you insights…

It takes a week, and then they give it to you in tiny chunks (see pic) and its only available for a couple of weeks
You get a lot of files zipped up (just csv spreadsheets) – with no explanation, obviously dumped straight out of a database
So you need their guides on what each log is – of which there are hundreds, all of which you have to download individually and only available when you are logged in!
- For example see that little ‘Other Data’ file at the bottom? There are 33 guides for that alone – a lot of WTH ones
So lets dive into a juicy one – Apple Media Services
- Even more files (and guides)
- Biggest was Apps and Service Analytics hidden away in
  - /Apple_Media_Services/Stores Activity/Other Activity/
- This spreadsheet has 92 columns of data
- But only gave me data going back to 2018 – Could this be related to GDPR?
- The Guide says: This user experience click data collects data across
  - App Store, Apple Music App and Web Landing pages,
  - Apple Music Web Preview, Apple Movies Store, TV App and Search, Marketing Campaigns, and Radio App events
- Over 2000 entries for an infrequent user just back to 2018!
But what about search history with safari and Siri? Nope Apple are still withholding
- Siri listens all the time and records on keywords & actions
  - Apple got caught in July 2019 analysing recordings
    - https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/apple/siri-privacy-spying-3700646/
  - All your searches and recordings should be available and delete-able but Apple says we cant as we anonymise it…
Call History
- Found in Apple features using icloud – Why does apple need my call history?
Mail Recents, found in same as above
- Very long XML file with entries going back to 2013 – not very recent is it?
- Why is it logging this? The user is using apple app for their mail
- This does not need to be logged and stored by Apple but they do because its great metadata: Who and how often you email them