Apple’s Lockdown Mode
I enable it to protect my devices
Apple rolled out a new feature called Lockdown Mode in iOS 16 and macOS Ventura. By the look of it, it sounds promising. I enabled it right away on my iPhone and Macbook without a second thought. But does it help to harden my device’s security against spyware and protect me from malicious websites or other kinds of cyber attacks? For that, I’ve got no idea.
Please be aware.
This is a rant post.
As an average user, I fumble with built-in features like Limit IP Tracking, Do Not Track, Block Cookies, and Safari Private Window to surf the internet. I also enabled every security feature I could find and disabled any kind of sharing service. I searched for hours to learn about restoring online privacy. Privacy Guides and Privacy.do make suggestions that I found useful. I went a bit further by installing uBlock Origin/AdGuard, a VPN, and a Firewall as well. Thing is, I don’t feel safe.
First things first, I’m not an Apple fanboy. But they make Lockdown Mode sound like a promising security feature for people who are concerned about their online privacy. Simply because I couldn’t find any other companies with such a dedication to their customers, I’m sold. On the other hand, I’m well aware that this might be a marketing strategy to sugarcoat their products through the play of words.
Since I’m on Mastodon, I’ve read so many tech-savvy people talk about not upgrading their devices every time an update comes out. As a regular user, I always want to get the latest security patches as soon as they’re available. The reason is simple: updating is all we can do to protect our devices from spyware, tracking, or any other kind of “hacking”. Or what are we supposed to do? As I see it, people will upgrade to a newer version sooner or later. It’s inevitable. My point is that you shouldn’t advise others not to upgrade their OS when they aren’t as talented and tech-savvy as you are. If that’s the case, I dare you to stick with the iPhone 3GS and Snow Leopard because the new OSs are bloated.
Again, what do you expect from an average non-tech person? Setting up a Raspberry Pi, installing a DNS, using Linux, or buying a Google phone to deGoogle it is way too much of a hassle. I’m pretty sure a lot of people wouldn’t go that far. Not because we didn’t want to, but because we couldn’t. I couldn’t. For your information, I gave up using OpenPGP for encrypted emails a while ago. It’s just...too fucking hard. Please, for the sake of your own wellbeing, stop blaming the user who couldn’t go through all that shite.
I don’t want to judge, but some people are just ignoring the fact that there are many people out there who aren’t equipped with such knowledge. Some people don’t even know the basics except “Clearing Browsing History”. Are you suggesting that they don’t deserve privacy because they’re dumb, and it’s their fault? Well, maybe our grandpas and grandmas don’t know how to use the Command line, but I bet they’re possibly wiser than you and me.
“You’re not willing to learn technologies.” Oh boy, don’t start with me. It isn’t about learning; since when does using a computer or mobile device requires a Master’s degree in Internet Security? Are 300+ hours of research and tutorials necessary to gain even a rudimentary understanding of protecting internet privacy? You must earn a Michelin star, like Gordon Ramsey, or you’re not qualified to cook. Tell me you’re not serious, please.
If privacy is a human right, how could it be so hard? If toggling a button on my mobile device wouldn’t provides any security or protection against spyware, but only a sense of relief. I will still enable it.
Please do enlighten others if you have the ability and lecture us. I’m all ears. I think I’ll simply stick with Apple products for the time being.
This is #Day80 of #100DaysToOffload.
Footnotes
- Apple expands industry-leading commitment to protect users from highly targeted mercenary spyware via Apple Newsroom. ↩︎