What would you do to get more privacy? Would you shut the blinds and close the door? What about only writing it down and then burning the paper when the discussion was over? Would you change your walls to dampen the sound more? Would you turn off your security camera too? What if none of this mattered and the threat could still see and hear you at any time. What would you do?
Lets talk about that device you carry around everywhere, the smartphone. Think of the smartphone as a room. Every room has walls, a door, and generally a window. Within that room you have things that hopefully matter to you. Sometimes a room has something sensitive or valuable that you want to keep protected. There is a high chance that you own either a Samsung, Xiaomi or an Apple smartphone. In Q1 2025 they accounted for a combined market share of 53% globally (Counterpoint, 2025). Out of the big three Apple positions itself as a privacy-focused brand catering to the consumer. They have slogans such as "Privacy, That's iPhone." and "What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone.". Apple has made it a core value of their brand.
Apple also has a growing ad business. Through this ad business Apple allows advertisers to target customers based on some criteria including but not limited to device type, software version, and location. Apple claims that the data they collect is not shared with advertisers. After monthly data is collected Apple uses random delivery time, stripping of personal and unique identifiers, and aggregated reports to help obscure the data. However despite these efforts there may yet be some data that can be used to link a person given enough time. The system requires that you place trust in Apple as the system is not transparent, a black box of data collection and processing.
But this is not the end of the story. Apple uses some dark patterns that can trick people into enabling settings they don't really want. An example of a dark pattern is the setting labeled Privacy preserving ad measurement. Despite the name it actually gives advertisers more data and requires a person to opt out manually in the settings. Specifically the setting monitors what ads a person clicks and creates a report for advertisers of what occurred when a person performs a desired action like making a purchase or installing an app. The only one this benefits is Apple.
Apple is just one of many companies claiming to be privacy focused. Plenty of privacy focused companies have had some form of criticism and controversy regarding their claims, take a look at Proton and how they got called out for logging IP addresses in a legal mess despite their no-logs promises. This is not to say that all companies with these claims are evil or secretly manipulating people. Privacy is incompatible with the for-profit business model, when entirely or party funded by advertisers.
This article cannot possibly give you all the answers. But everyone should be wary of companies claims. Companies have legal requirements they must meet and nobody is going to go to jail or lose their business for you. If you have something sensitive then it should remain on your computer where you control where the information goes. It is the unfortunate reality of the digital age we live in that the only truly secure place is on your own, up-to-date equipment. Even with those things and good practices targeted individuals may find it best to keep important information offline and never let it touch the internet in the first place.