Blocking Starlink access in iOS 18.3

Based on who owns Starlink and his attitude towards data privacy, I don't want to connect to Starlink in any circumstance.

I am an att user and I won't install it because I don't trust anything to do with Musk, even if they say it doesn't. This should be an optional install for people who want it. Apple should give its users the choice.

I feel morally obligated to be responsible with who I allow to make a profit off of me. I refuse to allow Elon Musk to make a profit. He profits because he is a major shareholder of SpaceX, who owns Starlink. My morals do not align with Elon Musks behavior and business practices. If many of us refuse to download 18.3, it sends a powerful message to Apple. Apple could possibly then reevaluate if it would continue to be profitable to partner with Starlink. I’m not super concerned about data privacy, thats long gone, but I am concerned about who uses said data for a profit. Sadly, we don’t have much control over that either, but this action makes me feel a little bit more in control over my personal life and boundaries. Simply said, I don't want anything this person has created sitting in my pocket. We pay a lot for our phones, and I think we should have the option to permanently opt out. Ive lived this long without satellite on my phone, and honestly just getting a sat phone and paying for that plan sounds so much more reliable to me.

Hope this helps you understand where I am coming from ☺️

I don't want my iPhone connected to Musk and anything he is connected to. Will not update. Apple better realign it's priorities.

No, iOS 18.3 Will NOT give Starlink access to your devices. If you CHOOSE to connect to it you can but you will never be forced to. In addition please understand that you cannot connect to ANY satellite service unless you are in an area that does not have a cellular signal and it’s ONLY for emergency calls to first responders. So consider this. You and your family run off the road in a an area that has no cell signal and you cannot call for help. Would you possibly sacrifice your family’s life because you don't want to connect to Starlink because of who owns it?

Thanks, this is helpful. The trouble is I don’t trust Musk.

After a decade using only Apple phones, and owning Macs MacBook pros and Apple TVs, this could be the thing that ends my loyalty.

Ali1O1O11O1 wrote:

So you mean you trust only Apple for your information?

how about google?

Your ISP?

your smart tv?

your gadgets?

You raise a reasonable point, one voiced by Scott McNealy (Founder of Sun Microsystems and current venture capitalist) in 1999: You have no privacy; get over it. Much worse than what you mentioned:

• Your carrier knows the location of your phone all the time, even if you turn off location services, because it can triangulate from the towers that receive your phone’s periodic “I’m here” ping. They are required by law to do this to support E911. They upload this information to databases where your location and whereabouts are known to law enforcement and any business that cares to know where you are.
• License plate scanners are ubiquitous, in police vehicles and repo trucks. And also along limited access highways, toll roads, bridges and tunnels. And every time your plate is scanned it goes into a location database.
• Electronic toll tags are obviously used every time you use a toll facility, but transponders are located everywhere along highways for traffic control. Have you see signs that display how long it will take to get to an upcoming milepost? Where do you think they get that information?
• Do you use public Wi-Fi, your cable provider’s hotspots or the “free” convenient Wi-Fi networks in malls and stores? Did you think that your location wasn’t tracked by those?
• See those cameras in stores, malls and other public places? Have you heard about facial recognition?
• Did you ever post your picture in Shutterfly?
• Did you ever use Avast?
• Do you have a Transit Pass account?
• Do you use an urban bicycle rental like New York’s CitiBike? Have you noticed that your usage history shows the location and time you picked up the bike and likewise when you dropped it off?
• Do you use credit cards in stores? Did you know that the location where you use a card is recorded in a worldwide central database, ostensibly to detect card fraud through what’s called a “velocity check” (AKA as the “superman test”)?
• Have you heard of iBeacon? It’s a feature that tracks and reports the location of any device that has Bluetooth enabled on a device.
• What about Find My iPhone, which always knows where your phone is? And its feature added in iOS 12 that uses the Bluetooth signals from other phones to anonymously crowdsource the location of a missing phone? Even when the phone is powered off?

Apple is about the only business in the world that does NOT track you.

We don’t know, currently they have not come out with a way to unenroll. What we do know is that the Starlink Satellite connection is currently only for T-Mobile customers that exclusively joined the beta testing.

xrayman394 wrote:

iPhone v18.3 will give Elon Musk's Starlink access to our phones.

Is there any way to block, deactivate or opt out rather than just open access?

I suggest NOT updating until we learn more.

Starlink, like other secure communications methods, are end to end encrypted, so you are not giving anyone access to your phone (not even Elon Musk). As it is used by governments around the world for secure communications and military operations (including by Ukraine) iPhone user's piddling little messages are not at risk.

You might not want to use it if you don’t like Musk, like the people who won’t buy Teslas, and I respect that. But it is not a security issue.

jagaird233 wrote:

I don't want my iPhone connected to Musk and anything he is connected to. Will not update. Apple better realign it's priorities.

So you clearly haven't read past the first post. How long have you been with T-Mobile? You should be complaining to them if you are a T-Mobile customer. And if you're not with T-Mobile you are really making a knee jerk reaction to an issue you won't even have. But you will leave yourself vulnerable to nearly 30 exploits Apple protected with 18.3.

Instead of Apple realigning anything, maybe you should educate yourself better.

xrayman394 wrote:

Thanks!

I strongly suggest NOT updating to 18.3 until we know more, we must try and learn more about this before upgrading.

Direct-to-satellite SpaceX Starlink is a T-Mobile (beta) feature, and the iOS 18.3 updates allows iPhone to be added to the current T-Mobile formerly-Android-only direct-to-satellite beta.

If you don’t want Starlink service, discuss that with your carrier.

The existing satellite service provided by Apple uses Globalstar.

Connect to a satellite with your iPhone - Apple Support

xrayman394 wrote:

Thanks!

I strongly suggest NOT updating to 18.3 until we know more, we must try and learn more about this before upgrading.

That's not something you should be recommending to others. Are you a T-Mobile customer who has joined the beta testing for Starlink? If no, I'm not sure why you are concerned at the moment?