Sign In with Apple may not completely eliminate data collection

What you need to know

  • A new report from TechRepublic states Sign In with Apple may not completely eliminate data collection.
  • This might have to do with the spread out nature of people's information.
  • Limiting data collection to one brand may not stop a company with multiple brands from getting multiple pieces of your data and put them together.

It's part of the bigger puzzle.

Apple's upcoming "Sign in with Apple" feature may not be as magical as we previously thought. A new report from TechRepublic says the feature will only limit data collection, not eliminate it entirely.

TechRepublic talked to Kazuki Ota, the founder and CTO of Arm Treasure Data, and he questioned the effectiveness of Appple's new feature.

Kazuki Ota, founder and CTO of Arm Treasure Data, is upfront about the impact Apple's plans could have. "With that type of solution, our match rate will be decreasing for sure," Ota told TechRepublic, but cautioning that "The effectiveness of this Apple move was more about how the email address will be used. That prevents certain actions, but I think the effectiveness, personally, will be limited."

The reason for this is the puzzle of information people leave. At some point, a company with multiple brands will be able to put together the pieces of your information and have a complete picture.

Creating pseudo-anonymous IDs that aim to limit tracking is a hurdle that enterprises have already cleared. "A lot of enterprises—especially larger ones who have been operating for more than 100 years—they have a lot of acquisitions, multiple businesses and multiple brands," Ota said. "A typical customer has around… 13-14 customer IDs. Let's say I interact with one group, and they have multiple brands. They might have information scattered across these brands."

Ota goes on to say that having "100% clean data is almost as imaginary situation."

Here's how Apple describes Sign In with Apple:

Now you can sign in to apps and websites with the Apple ID you already have. No filling out forms or creating new passwords. Just tap "Sign in with Apple" and after a quick Face ID or Touch ID confirmation, you're all set. Apps can ask only for your name and email address, and if you prefer, we can create a unique email address that forwards to your real one. We won't track your activity and you're in control of your data.

Though Ota's statement do have some validity, we'll have to wait for the "Sign In with Apple" feature to roll out to see if his statements are indeed true. We understand that dealing with data can be quite tricky and messy, but it's hard to imagine why Apple would have advertised the feature without understanding its implications.

iOS 13 with "Sign In with Apple" will be released in the fall.

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