In a very surprising turn of events, at least for me, it turns out that Apple is the tech company most likely to hand over user data when asked. This is despite the company’s claims about valuing user privacy and ensuring that its walled garden stays that way.
A report compiled over almost a decade came to the conclusion that user data requests received by Apple have increased by almost 500%, and it complied. Around nine million cases were studied across 190 countries for major tech companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Meta. Each company has accepted more requests than I’d have liked to believe:
Apple: 82.04% of all requests
Google: 72.88% of all requests
Meta: 72.81% of all requests
Microsoft: 67.42% of all requests
Big iPhone is watching. | Image credit — PhoneArena
The report also shows that the number of requests for user data has been increasing each year. 2022 was a particularly busy year: accounting for around 25% of all requests studied for the report. I can’t pinpoint why that’s the case, though it may have had something to do with employees choosing remote work over going to the office.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the U.S. accounted for the most number of requests made to the aforementioned companies. Every one in 100 people in the U.S. have had their data requested by authorities over the last decade. Germany was second and Singapore came in third place. Meta accounts were what was most often requested.
Apple has been topping the user data disclosure list since 2016. This came as a shock to me because I had always been under the impression that Apple was the most difficult company to get user data out of. I certainly wouldn’t have guessed Microsoft to be less compliant than Apple.
Of course, the amount of data these companies collect from us only increases each year. So you can expect your local authorities to know quite a lot about you should you ever come under their radar.
Apple may make some of the best phones worth buying today, but that point might be rendered moot for some consumers when they come across this report.
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Abdullah is an ardent believer in the future of VR, and can't wait to see what more it brings to the table as technology improves. He enjoys covering new software releases in the XR industry, as well as major news about hardware and companies focused on VR.
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