New in privacy: iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey and watchOS 8

Apple has unveiled new privacy protections in iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey and watchOS 8, which will allow users to better control and manage access to their data.

These developments reinforce Apple's commitment to privacy with new features such as transparency in app tracking (ATT) and privacy tabs in the App Store.

Third Party Data Protection

In the app Mail, Mail Privacy Shield prevents senders from using invisible pixels to collect user information. This new feature prevents senders from knowing when an email has been opened and hides the user's IP address to prevent it from being related to their online activity or used to determine their location.

For years, Safari's Smart Anti-Tracking has used built-in machine learning to block trackers, without affecting the functioning of the web pages you visit.

This year, Smart Anti-Tracking has been strengthened by hiding the user's IP address from trackers as well. This means that they will not be able to use the IP address as a unique identifier to relate user activity on different web pages and create a usage-based profile.

App privacy control

The app privacy report shows how often each app has used the permissions granted to access your location, photo, camera, microphone, and contacts over the past seven days. 1 

Users can check if it suits the use of the app and change permissions in Settings if they disagree. It also allows you to see the third-party domains an app has contacted with and see who it might be sharing your data with.

Audio processing of requests to Siri on the device

With voice recognition built into the device, the audio of requests is processed on the iPhone or iPad by default.

This solves one of the main concerns related to voice assistants, which is unauthorized audio recording.

Many of the requests to Siri will be processed on the device itself, so you won't need an internet connection to handle actions like opening an app, setting an alarm or timer, changing settings or controlling music. .

More Internet privacy with iCloud +

iCloud + gives users everything they love about iCloud and enhances it with new premium features at no additional cost, including iCloud Private Relay, Hide My Email and extended support for HomeKit protected videos. Two

Private relay is a new Internet privacy service built into iCloud that allows users to connect to the Internet and browse with greater security and privacy. While browsing with Safari, Private Relay ensures that all outbound traffic from the user's device is encrypted.

In this way, only the user and the website in question can access the data, without Apple or the user's service provider being able to see it.

Therefore, all user requests are sent through two different retransmissions. The former assigns the user an anonymous IP address that indicates the region, but not its exact location. The second decrypts the address of the web page you want to visit and takes you to your destination.

The separation of information protects the user's privacy because no entity can identify both the user and the sites they visit.

Building on the capabilities of Login with Apple, Hide My Email allows users to share unique and random email addresses so that messages are forwarded to their inbox, without having to reveal their personal address.

This function is integrated into the settings of Safari, iCloud e Mail and allows users to create and delete as many addresses as they need to control who contacts them at any time. 3

iCloud + offers more support for HomeKit protected videos so users can connect more cameras than ever in the Home app.

In addition, end-to-end encrypted storage of security recordings will not affect the contracted storage space.

HomeKit Secure Video ensures that activity detected by users' security cameras is analyzed and encrypted on Apple devices at home before being stored in iCloud.

Other features for users and developers These updates also include advanced tools with which developers can improve app functionality while protecting user privacy.

• With the  sharing your current location, users can share their location once with an app, without the developer having access to the information after the session. Developers can customize the button that allows sharing the current location to integrate it directly into their apps.
• Di  improve limited access to the photo library, developers can offer smart features, such as a recent folder photo in specific albums, even when the user is only allowed limited access.
• Thanks to the function of  secure copy, developers can allow users to paste information from another app without having access to the information until the user pastes it into their own app. This way, users can paste content without the transparency notification appearing, for added peace of mind.

1. The app privacy report will be available as a software update for iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and watchOS 8.2. ICloud + plans: 50GB with one camera supporting HomeKit Secure Video ($ 0,99 / month), 200GB with up to five cameras supporting HomeKit Secure Video ($ 2,99 / month), and 2TB with unlimited HomeKit Secure Video compatible cameras ($ 9,99 / month). 3. Hide my email will be available in Mail as a software update for iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS Monterey and iCloud.com.