Report: Apple privacy tools can't remove data already held by brokers

According to the report, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, Hide My Email and iCloud Private Relay are useful for limiting future tracking, but they do not solve the underlying problem. The report says the tools cannot erase data gathered over the past decade and held in hundreds of broker databases.

The report describes how data brokers collect information from multiple sources to build profiles. It says terms and conditions for apps and websites often include clauses granting permission to share data with selected partners, which can mean sensitive information such as location history is sold to brokers and then resold. The report lists phone numbers, home addresses, Social Security numbers, maiden names, family connections, past employers, car loans and previous addresses among the data packaged and sold to marketers and others. It says the industry is largely unregulated, with few guardrails on who can buy the information or what they can do with it.

The report says the security risk compounds over time. Scammers who know a person’s job title, neighbors’ names or where they grew up can craft phishing messages that are difficult to spot, according to the report. It adds that people-search sites can serve as public, searchable directories that map a person’s location, relatives and daily patterns, a concern for anyone worried about physical safety.

In most US states, the report says, people have a legal right to demand that their information be removed from these databases. But it describes the process as time-consuming and deliberately difficult. People must contact hundreds of companies, opt-out forms can be hard to find, applications can be lengthy, and a single request cannot cover an entire family; each family member must apply separately. Even after a removal, brokers can buy new data and start the process again, and the report says success without persistent follow-up is poor.

The report presents Incogni as a way to automate the process. According to the report, Incogni sends legally binding removal requests to more than 420 data-broker databases, handles follow-up when brokers push back or try to re-collect data, and repeats the process at regular intervals. Its Unlimited plan extends coverage to more than 3,000 additional sites and allows custom removal requests, the report says. It also says users get a dashboard tracking the status of each request in real time, with the aim of reducing robocalls, spam and exposure to identity thieves and scammers.

The report ties the issue to Cybersecurity Awareness Week, an annual campaign that reminds individuals and companies to strengthen digital security. It says the usual advice centers on strong passwords, multi-factor authentication and recognizing phishing emails, but argues that personal data already held in broker databases is an under-discussed threat. The report says 9to5Mac readers can use promo code 9TO5MAC at checkout for 58% off Incogni and can cancel at any time.

Editor's Summary

The 9to5Mac report says Apple’s anti-tracking features do not erase data already held by brokers and describes US removal rights as difficult to exercise. It also promotes Incogni’s automated removal service and a 58% discount for readers during Cybersecurity Awareness Week.