A hot potato: No doubt about it, Safari has some strong privacy protections. Notable features include Intelligent Tracking Prevention to block cross-site trackers, built-in privacy reports, and Private Relay, which is available with an iCloud+ subscription and offers enhanced private browsing. This means Apple is not off the mark with its new ad highlighting how strong its privacy is compared to other browsers. But can it really claim it's the best out there?
Apple has released a new video ad targeting the privacy practices of rival web browsers. True to Apple's style, the aesthetics of the ad are striking: it uses imagery of intrusive seagulls with surveillance cameras to symbolize how data firms track users without adequate protection.
While it doesn't name its competitors, Apple implies that other browsers enable user tracking without robust safeguards. Cupertino also highlights its own privacy features, including technologies that prevent cross-site tracking and a private browsing mode that claims to maintain user data confidentiality.
Apple is playing on the perception that Safari does a better job of protecting privacy, and for what it's worth, there is some validity to this argument. Apple is said to be much stricter than Google in terms of privacy requirements for app developers and indeed, Android has been described as more of a "wild west" in terms of app privacy practices. It also tends to implement privacy features by default, such as Intelligent Tracking Prevention in Safari, which blocks cross-site tracking automatically.
Safari emphasizes processing data on the device rather than sending it to servers, which helps minimize data collection, and it has a feature requiring apps to ask a user's permission before tracking their activity across other companies' apps and websites.
Apple also regularly pushes out security updates and collaborates with security researchers to identify and fix vulnerabilities – as do, it must be noted, the other browsers on the market. For example, a previous update, Safari 17.3, addressed a privacy issue related to private browsing activity potentially being visible in Settings. And the most recent update, Safari 17.5, fixed several issues, including preventing websites from persisting permission dialogs after navigation, and addressing potential fingerprinting vulnerabilities.
So, Safari does offer strong privacy protections, but the claim that it's "better" is a nuanced one. For instance, Apple's closed-source nature makes it difficult for independent verification of some privacy claims. And while Safari offers strong privacy features for a mainstream browser, some specialized privacy-focused browsers, like Brave, may offer even more stringent protections. Moreover, Apple does have an ecosystem dependency problem. Namely, some of Safari's privacy features are most effective within Apple's ecosystem, which may limit their usefulness for users of multiple platforms.
Apple's latest ad claims Safari is the best browser for privacy
