The latest software powering Apple devices features improved security features designed to better protect user data.
Apple feels strongly about customer privacy. The newly released operating system, iOS 8, includes many security additions and enhancements. The company added a section to its website to detail the security features built-in to the software, and to explain Apple’s commitment to customer privacy. This area of the website features a letter from CEO Tim Cook in which he emphasizes the company’s efforts to provide users with the best security and privacy as possible.
“On devices running iOS 8, your personal data such as photos, messages (including attachments), email, contacts, call history, iTunes content, notes, and reminders is placed under the protection of your passcode,” Cook explains. The added security in iOS 8 even prevents Apple, or the feds, from accessing user data. “Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data,” says Cook. “So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.”
Data security is a major concern of mobile device users, especially after the many recent headlines of government agencies obtaining user data. Cook addresses this concern in his letter.
“Finally, I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services,” he says. “We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will.”
Cook adds, “Our commitment to protecting your privacy comes from a deep respect for our customers. We know that your trust doesn’t come easy. That’s why we have and always will work as hard as we can to earn and keep it.”
Apple’s improved security features come just weeks after the iCloud hacking incident in which the personal photos of several celebrities were accessed. Although the company has provided the necessary tools to safeguard devices and data, Apple points out that, in order for security to work, users need to actually use those tools. Simple steps, like locking a device with a passcode, are essential to safeguarding a device.
