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New York - Google and other online advertisers bypassed the privacy settings of an Apple web browser on iPhones and computers in order to survey millions of users, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The Journal said the companies used a special code that tricks Apple's Safari software into letting them monitor the browsing habits of many users.
Safari - the most widely used browser on mobile devices and the default browser on iPhones and Mac laptops - is designed to block such tracking by default, the Journal said.
The Journal said Google disabled the code after the newspaper contacted it and that Google removed a message on its website saying users could rely on Safari to prevent the search giant from tracking them.
It quoted Google as saying the Journal “mischaracterizes what happened and why.”
“We used known Safari functionality to provide features that signed-in Google users had enabled. It's important to stress that these advertising cookies do not collect personal information.”
The Journal quoted an Apple official as saying the company was “working to put a stop” to the circumvention of the privacy settings.
The code was first spotted by Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer and independently confirmed by Ashkan Soltani, a technical adviser to the Journal.
Google and Apple could not immediately be reached for comment. - Sapa-AFP
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Sputnik, wrote
Shame, poor little innocent Apple users. The horrible Google monster takes advantage of rubbish Apple software to do what Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Bing (IE Microsoft) and countless other sites do. Track your web browsing. They really couldn't care if you visit transvestite web sites, except maybe to push ads for high heels your way. That's how they make their money. If you don't like it, stick to Apple's half-baked (and copied) systems. Funny how non of you whinged when apple were caught out logging the user's geographic locations. But Apple is kewl, so that's ok. PS wonder if the mods will display this - they do so like their fruit.
madhir, wrote
Believer, wrote
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