Earlier this year, Facebook was rocked by the revelation that a company called Cambridge Analytica secretly acquired information from more than 80 million users as part of a wide-scale effort to more effectively target U.S. voters. The saga marked a huge black eye for Facebook as the company was forced to confront a number of privacy-related questions that it had conveniently sidestepped over the years.
More broadly, the aforementioned Facebook controversy prompted many people to take a much closer look at how the data they provide to tech giants is used. Alongside that, users are more interested than ever in examining the scope of personal information large tech companies have stored. In light of that, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that Apple has a tool which allows users to take a close look at all of the information the company knows about them.
Apple of course has made a point of noting that it takes user privacy very seriously, and that being the case, you shouldn’t expect to be shocked by what you find. Still, if you’re curious about what Apple is keeping tabs on, Todd Haselton over at CNBC directs us to an easy way for users to download an archive of the data they’ve provided to Apple over the years.
- Go to Apple’s Privacy Policy page (https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/)
- Scroll down to the section titled “Access to Personal Information.” It’s worth reading and says explains that Apple will provide you with a copy of the information it holds if you request it.
- Click the “Privacy Contact Form” link.
- Choose your language.
- Select “I have a question about privacy issues” from the drop-down box.
- Fill in your first and last name, email, subject and comments. I noted that I was requesting a copy of my personal information in the comments field.
- Click submit.
Following that, an Apple representative will likely reach out to you in a few days with a request for additional information in order to verify your identity. Once that is taken care of, Apple will reportedly send a .zip file over to you in a few days time.
