The issues of safety and security—and by extension, privacy—provoke visceral emotions in people. Apple has always tried to build an emotional connection between its devices and customers. With its increasing focus on privacy, it’s clear that Apple not only sees privacy as important to maintaining this bond, but as a means of differentiating itself from the competition. For a variety business and technical reasons, it’s an advantage that will be hard for Apple’s competition to duplicate. ~ Rich Mogull
This is smart analysis by fellow security pro Rich Mogull.
As I’ve been saying for a while now, it’s important when looking at a platform to think about two things:
- Your goals as a consumer
- The incentives of the ecosystem
Your goals
What do you value most? Features? Security? Openness? The ability to hack your device? Cost options? Configurability?
Answer these questions first. Know what you’re looking for.
The incentives of the platform
Now that you know what you’re looking for, take a look at how the platform in question (Google, Apple, Windows, etc.) delivers in these areas.
Each have their strengths and weaknesses.
Google is more customizable. Google has more hardware options. Apple has more of a focus on design. Etc.
Privacy
For those who care about privacy, Apple is going to be the better play for a simple reason. It’s in their best interest, and it’s aligned with their incentivization model.
Apple is all about how their devices make people feel. They love crafting experiences that are pleasurable on multiple levels, and safety is definitely one of those.
Google’s goals with Android aren’t able to align with privacy in the same way simply because of what Google (and Android) are.
They’re an advertising company.
This is fundamentally different from Apple, which is a “make you feel good” company.
One of those is congruent with privacy, and the other is not.
If you care about security or privacy, Apple is the superior platform. Not because Google can’t do these things well, but because Android is fundamentally designed to be loose in those areas as part of their business model.
Track the incentives. They will reveal the truth.
