Google’s antitrust lawsuit has revealed, ironically, how little trust Apple has in the creator of the iPhone’s most popular search engine. In an internal document from 2013, Apple reported on its privacy plans, claiming ‘Google’s Policy is to get right up to the creepy line but not cross it’.
As part of the findings of the Google antitrust case, The Register spotted an Apple Slide Deck going over Apple’s privacy strategy. It has a ‘Privacy Timeline’ pointing out the places where Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Twitter (now X) have engaged in privacy behavior it is critical of.
Most importantly, Apple dedicates multiple slides to directly comparing itself to Google. These include key sectors like account security, Siri and Voice Search, Maps, and Search and Ads. It then finished off the comparison by stating ‘Android is a massive tracking device’.
Actions speak louder - iMore’s take
It’s important to note that the landscape of privacy has changed significantly since this was first published back in 2013. There are no recent signs Apple executives still feel this way about Android devices or the company as a whole. However, the concerns Apple has raised can be linked back to the Google Antitrust case. Essentially, the US government believes that Google has been acting in ways that have solidified its grip over the search engine market, forming a monopoly of a kind.
Apple is linked to this case due to their implementation of Google’s search engine into Apple iPhones and the large amount of money Google pays for the privilege, yet these slides show a distrust of Google’s privacy precautions. As of last month, Bloomberg confirmed that Apple has what it needs to make its own search engine, and Microsoft even tried to help make it. Perhaps this antitrust case will give Apple the last push it needs to build its own competing search engine.
