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Apple’s latest clash with the EU has left European Safari users potentially vulnerable to web activity tracking.
Apple has a history of attempting to dodge EU regulations, even getting slapped with a €1.8 billion fine for streaming violations in March. Now, the company’s final cave-in to European antitrust rules by allowing third-party apps on iPhones has left users potentially vulnerable to web activity tracking.
Previously, Apple’s Safari has been touted as a private, safe way to browse. Now, however, as reported by The Register, developers Talal Haj Bakry and Tommy Mysk have uncovered that the way Apple has allowed third-party apps access leaves potential privacy gaps.
Essentially, when visited by Safari by iOS, any website can pin a chosen approved software marketplace with a unique identifier for every user. As users move from site to site, that information can be quietly disclosed to a third-party (aka non-Apple) app store. This tracking data can be user for targeted ads and other data-driven personalization.
Is there a real risk to Apple Safari users?
As it stands, this risk appears to only apply to iOS 17.4 users in the EU and there aren’t yet any reports of the privacy gap being exploited. However, the potential appears to be there.
“Our testing shows that Apple delivered this feature with catastrophic security and privacy flaws,” wrote Bakry and Mysk in an advisory published on April 28.
The major failings of Apple, according to the developer duo, is that: it fails to check the origin of the website, allowing for unsupervised tracking; it doesn’t validate the JSON Web Tokens, ‘opening the door’ for malicious targeting; and it lacks certificate pinning, offering room for an intermediary to access the communication.
iOS users in Europe are urged to use a different privacy-driven browser, such as Brave or DuckDuckGo, which both plug the gaps that Safari has left open in Europe.
Featured image: Unsplash
The post Apple’s ‘incredibly private’ Safari users could still be tracked in Europe appeared first on ReadWrite.

The upcoming Apple Pencil is rumoured to feature haptic feedback for the very first time, as well as new gestures.
Reliable Apple reporter Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has written that the new Pencil will include haptic feedback for the first time, ahead of Apple’s May 7 event, where it’s expected that announcements will be made about the iPad accessories, the new generation of Magic Keyboard, and Apple Pencil.
What difference will haptic feedback make to the Apple Pencil?
Haptic feedback should help the digital utensil will feel more realistic when in use. While the Apple Pencil is usually light to use, feeling vibrations or pushback from the gadget can help to guide your use. Even changing the mode within the software could affect the feedback, with a crayon mode making the Pencil feel rougher, for example.
There will also reportedly be additional gestures for greater customization and versatility. One example is the new ‘squeeze’ gesture, resulting in a contextual menu based on the current task, such as adding shapes, and stickers, or switching to text mode on a canvas.
Alongside these upcoming features, May 7 is also expected to see Apple update the iPad hardware line-up for the first time in over a year. 2023 saw no major changes coming, so we could be seeing some pretty major changes.
Reportedly, according to 9to5Mac, the new iPad Pro lineup could feature OLED displays even an M4 chip. This would suggest some heightened AI compatibility for the upcoming Apple tablet, while the iPad Air should also grow in size, resulting in a larger 12.9-inch size for the very first time.
It’s a season of many firsts for Apple, with the company pushing the marker for iPads and their accessories across the board. Following a relatively lacklustre 2023, the keynote for 2024 could be packed full of welcome updates for iPad users.
Featured image: Apple
The post New Apple pencil rumored to feature haptic feedback appeared first on ReadWrite.