Apple’s premium TV streaming box, the Apple TV 4K, has been ranked as the number one device of its kind in terms of user privacy, with a report noting that it doesn’t keep track of everything users watch, unlike most others.
The Apple TV 4K is widely regarded as one of the most premium streaming boxes money can buy, thanks to its integration with other Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad, and the high quality of its video playback in comparison to many rival offerings.
It’s officially more private too, according to insights from the Public Interest Research Group, which were first published by Ars Technica this week. In an investigation, the PIRG said its most significant finding is that the Apple TV 4K doesn’t bombard users with ads, unlike most other devices, such as streaming sticks from Roku and Amazon's Fire TV Sticks, and smart TVs from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and others.
“Apple’s primary business model isn’t dependent on selling targeted ads, so it has somewhat less incentive to harvest and monetize incredible amounts of your data,” said PIRG’s director RJ Cross in an interview with Ars Technica.
Apple does keep a list of user’s recently watched shows, and synchronises this across other Apple devices. It also provides content recommendations. But unlike most other brands, it doesn’t use invasive automatic content recognition technology to keep track of what people are looking at while using the device. ACR technology is used to build up profiles of users based on their activity, and this data is often sold to advertisers to target people based on their interests. But Apple confirmed to Ars Technica it doesn’t use this technology, pointing to documents on its website that outline its privacy policies.
For privacy-conscious consumers, this could be a pretty big selling point, and the Apple TV 4K is the most recommended streaming platform for this segment, PIRG said in its conclusion. That’s not to say Apple doesn’t keep some data about its users. They’ll still be required to create an Apple ID and sign in to use the Apple TV 4K, and agree to its terms and conditions.
However, Apple’s ToC notes that all data collected regarding its user’s profiles is anonymised, which means the company is unable to link your viewing habits to your specific profile. Users who prefer to do so can also switch off many of the device’s own personalisation and recommendation features, so they won’t see curated lists of content based on what they’ve previously watched. They will, however, still see this when navigating streaming apps such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, as they’ll still be tracked via the profile they create to access those services.
Apple’s voice control functionality also has enhanced privacy controls. For example, if someone uses Siri to control the TV via the Siri Remote, an iPhone or iPad, those voice interactions can be protected through the general Siri privacy menu. While Apple does collect transcription of these interactions, they are also anonymised to mask the user’s personal information, and they’re only stored for six months before being deleted.
In other words, if you don't want to be tracked while using your TV, Apple is really the only way to go, because it's the only major TV device brand and service provider that isn't building an extensive business based on ads.
