I think what gtrubetskoy is talking about is Google (namely: search, Gmail, calendar, contacts, Plus--which are all tied to your Google account) and Facebook (namely: relationships, posting content, private messages, what you look at, etc) is information which is then mined or allowed to be targeted by advertisers for a handsome profit.
Apple doesn't do that. Their iAds are nothing in comparison to Google/FB's data mining. The only thing you get to go off of is the Advertising Identifier and the user can change/reset that at any moment effectively not tying them to any specific targeting.
I'm not sure what could be said of iCloud, but Apple itself isn't a big player in the ad-selling market unlike Google and Facebook. So unless Apple is straight selling off iCloud user data, it's a different ballgame.
edit: you also have to take into account Google and FB's ability to track you across the (near)-ENTIRE internet. Every FB/G-Plus share button, every video, image, asset loaded from FB/Google can track you via cookies. You could be reading a blog about pregnancies and how to prepare for a newborn on a cute little blog and Facebook may then target you for pregnancy/newborn products and services, etc. Unlike Apple, Google and Facebook aren't limited to their own properties in terms of info harvesting and ad-targeting.
> The only thing you get to go off of is the Advertising Identifier and the user can change/reset that at any moment effectively not tying them to any specific targeting.
Google has a lot to lose in this debate though. If government encroachment on security/privacy online becomes enough to worry people, they'll be less willing to share data. Less data means less effective advertising and lower rates, killing Google's business model.
Regardless of whether Apple profits from iCloud user data, the key question how well they protect the data on iCloud. Do they encrypt the data at rest? Are the links between data centers encrypted?
> Don’t the modern Android phones with Trusted Execution Environment do about the same?
Not from what I've been able to determine doing some research today. Or at leaast they're very poor at advertising it if they do.
Samsung KNOX uses the ARM TrustedZone to provide remte-attestation of running software, but I can't see anything similar to Apple's Secure Enclave for filesystem encryption keys.
If anyone does know an Android phone that does this properly, please let me know and I'll buy two this week. I am very impressed at the engineering Apple have built in this regard.
Pretty sure anything made in the last few years has had a secure element because you needed it for Google Wallet. That might have changed for Android Pay though.
