Private Relay, Apple’s flagship privacy feature, faces a challenge in Europe: Several operators want it banned

On By Garmin Philip

Private Relay is Apple’s flagship privacy feature. Your mission is prevent internet providers and websites from identifying you and know which web pages you visit, especially when you use Safari. However, your path in Europe could be bumpy. Several operators want this feature to be banned, according to The Telegraph.

The British newspaper notes that in August 2021, shortly after Apple announced Private Relay, Vodafone, Telefónica, Orange and T-Mobile submitted a letter expressing opposition to the Cupertino company’s new privacy feature.

European operators against Private Relay

The aforementioned telephone companies stated in the brief seen by The Telegraph that Private Relay “will have significant consequences in terms of undermining European digital sovereignty“They also indicate that” it will harm others to innovate and compete in digital markets. “

Along these lines, and as Private Relay hides the users’ browsing activity from the eyes of everyone, including Apple itself, the telephone operators were concerned that the function could limit the ability to efficiently manage telecommunications networks.

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Yes OK the VPN services they fulfill a similar function to that of Private RelayMobile phone companies decided to target Apple’s feature, presumably for its ease of use and for being integrated into systems used by millions of users around the world.

Some companies have already started taking steps to block Apple’s privacy feature on their customers. 9To5Mac collects screenshots of users where “Private Relay has been disabled by the data plan“because it is not supported.

Private Relay is available in beta since the release of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS 12 for all users with iCloud payment plans. It works with Wi-Fi or mobile data, although it is disabled by default.

When Private Relay is activated, all Safari browsing activity is encrypted and routed Through Apple’s own servers and a “trusted partner”. Generally speaking, the proxy server, DNS request, and IP address are separated.

The user’s IP address is visible to Apple, but not the web pages they are visiting. Cupertino’s “trusted partner” knows which pages are being accessed, but cannot associate them with any IP address. This way, this way It is not possible to know the real location of the user, track their activity or profile it commercially.

Image | Apple



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