this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2024
209 points (97.7% liked)
Privacy
31263 readers
424 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
Chat rooms
-
[Matrix/Element]Dead
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Disclaimer: Linux user through-and-through ; I have a modern "m" mac for some work specific applications.
Setting up a macbook today doesn't require an apple id or even an email address. My warranty is with the non-apple authorized retailer I bought the computer from, I don't use the software store (but I think it would work) nor do I use any apple services like itunes, or, without the apple id, I don't have icloud backups. And I don't/can't buy anything from the store, of course.
I am able to update the os, I have just one notification in the settings about setting up the account but no showstopper at all.
So what does apple get from me? I'd guess crude location (from my vpn), hardware/OS version and maybe installed software? That's not much, and since it's a work machine it's offline all the time, I can't see that device doing much behind my back.
If apple is indeed looking deep into that laptop, then I guess they'll see I also have Asahi on it. And maybe they are really really intrusive and notice I'm using that Asahi partition 80% of the time (;
Joking aside, if you need macos, it is possible to use macos. With some limitations: handle your own backups, get your software from the vendors and... And that's it.
there's a significant portion of software provided only via the App Store with no independent download from the vendor available. granted, you can get most stuff with direct download and macports/brew but there is stuff out there that forces you to sign in.
telemetry that's baked in along with the global Apple network that you're involuntarily part of (that's how random airtags/find-my-shit work) should be deal breakers for anyone.
Sadly we know you are very much the exception in Apple Land.
Generally, folks who buy Apple do so because they don't have to think about this stuff.
Most people just login/create accounts as prompted (on Android too, with companies like Samsung - there was a post yesterday confused about such logins).
I posted the above for the sake of precision - OTOH, I had my workplace buy an ipad and that was impossible to setup without email + creating an apple id. I don't care much (used work email), but still. Same with:
Since I'm borderline psychotic about this, I always create a temporary access point on my phone that I delete right after setup is done, over a disposable email address from simplelogin.com.
Yea, I really try to avoid those logins. A Windows machine really has no need of it, and if your Corp IT allowed it to work that way, they're really dropping the ball. Regardless of the size of the company, you buy windows pro licenses, and don't even allow the creation of, or connection to, MS accounts with business devices.
My work phone is an iPhone, because work manages it, so Android holds no value there.