Update post date, some copy updates

Author: hijohnnylin

_posts/2020-12-16-Apples-Privacy-Nutrition-Facts.md _posts/2020-12-18-Apples-Privacy-Nutrition-Facts.md

@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ At this moment in 2020, the fact that Facebook is bad for privacy is already wel
 
 > ![Zuckerberg brags about his users being dumb fucks](https://privacyreview-site-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/images/review/facebookmessenger-infographic.png)
 
-So while App Privacy does make Apple *look good* via viral tweets like the one above, there is little to no new information here for users. People aren't on Facebook because they think Facebook respects privacy, people are on Facebook because it's hard to get all their friends to move to a different social network at the same time ("network effects"), and it has nothing to do with privacy. Nobody *wants* to be on Facebook, everyone*knows* it's horrible for privacy - and showing users this long App Privacy list doesn't actually change anything.
+People are only on Facebook because their friends are on it. Nobody *wants* to be on Facebook, everyone *knows* it's horrible for privacy - and so showing users this long App Privacy list doesn't actually change anything.
 
-As a thought experiment for the usefulness of App Privacy, imagine that Facebook changed their App Privacy and wrote that they didn't collect any user information. Of course, nobody would believe them. For well-known apps, App Privacy at best only confirms what users already know.
+As a thought experiment for the usefulness of App Privacy, imagine if Facebook changed their App Privacy and wrote that they didn't collect any user information. Of course, nobody would believe them. For well-known apps, App Privacy at best only confirms what users already know.
 
 ### Flaw #2: For other apps, App Privacy incentivizes dishonesty because it's self-reported
 For apps that aren't as popular, App Privacy is detrimental for privacy, because Apple relies entirely on the app developer to be honest about their privacy practices. This creates bad incentives - it's like asking restaurants to do their own health inspections and provide their own health scores.
@@ -29,14 +29,14 @@ Let's say a user is searching for a new email app, and is choosing between two c
 
 In this situation, both the dishonest and the honest email apps collect basic, anonymized analytics. The dishonest app also secretly sells user emails to third parties. The dishonest app, however, writes in their App Privacy that they don't collect or sell *any* data, while the honest app admits that they collect basic analytics data. So a user shopping for apps reads the App Privacy for both apps, decides that they want to "maximize their privacy", and downloads the dishonest app. The end result is that the contents of their emails are sold to third-parties.
 
-Apple doesn't verify any of the App Privacy information that app developers submit - because they *can't*. *There is currently no way for Apple to know what an app does with user data after the data is sent to the app.* But by drumming up hype about "App Privacy" and **calling it equivalent to "Privacy Nutrition Labels", Apple very strongly implies that the privacy information is vetted, when that is absolutely false**. This creates a false sense of security.
+Apple doesn't verify any of the App Privacy information that app developers submit - because they *can't*. *There is currently no way for Apple to know what an app does with user data after the data is sent to the app.* But by drumming up hype about "App Privacy" and **calling it equivalent to "Privacy Nutrition Labels", Apple very strongly implies that the privacy information is vetted, when that is absolutely false**.
 
-Unfortunately, Apple is further disincentivized to remove dishonest apps, because ill-gotten profits from selling user data go back to buying App Store Search Ads, where they can rope in even more user data. By doing this, the dishonest apps are essentially bribing Apple to show up first in App Store search results. I previously wrote about the magnitude of top-selling apps doing exactly this on the App Store [here](/2020/11/25/how-to-make-80000.html). The App Store's "scam apps" problem has only gotten worse, and App Privacy will help them seem more legitimate than ever before to unsuspecting users.
+This results in a nightmare feedback loop: Dishonest apps make more money due to "better" App Privacy, and then use their ill-gotten profits to buy Apple's App Store Search Ads, which allows them to appear first in search results and rope in more downloads and more user data. Sell the user data, rinse and repeat. I previously wrote about the magnitude of top-selling apps doing exactly this on the App Store [here](/2020/11/25/how-to-make-80000.html). The App Store's "scam apps" problem has only gotten worse, and App Privacy will help them seem more legitimate than ever before to unsuspecting users.
 
 ### App Store's "App Privacy" takes an old idea and makes it worse
 In a nutshell, Apple's App Privacy is amplifying the worst privacy invention ever - the Privacy Policy, aka the "We Pinky-Promise to Not Steal Your Data" document. Privacy Policies are bad not just because they're impossible to enforce and easy to abuse, but also because they're not [legally binding](https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol27/iss1/5/), and in the rare case that violations are caught, [the](https://www.abine.com/blog/2012/facebook-privacy-violated-by-new-ads/) [penalties](https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/24/17275994/yahoo-sec-fine-2014-data-breach-35-million) [are](https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-france/facebook-fined-150000-euros-by-french-data-watchdog-idUKKCN18C10C) [slaps on the wrist](http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/blog/google-ruling-shows-need-do-not-track-and-strong-antitrust-action). Apple's App Privacy repackages the Privacy Policy to make it look more trustworthy with Apple Design™, but fixes none of the inherent flaws with it.
 
-Apple needs a much better approach than depending on the honesty of app developers and profit-driven companies. Here are two alternatives that are far better for privacy:
+Apple needs a much better approach than totally depending on the honesty of profit-driven app companies. Here are two alternatives that are far better for privacy:
 
 One approach is to ask for *proof* from developers that their privacy claims are actually true - for example, enforcing the [Openly Operated](https://openlyoperated.org) transparency standard, which puts the responsibility on companies to prove their claims before being allowed to access users' personal data. This approach is already working with apps that are serving hundreds of thousands of people daily.