Blocking Starlink access in iOS 18.3

Johnathan Burger wrote:

Car Phones have been around since 1946.

Early in my carrier with AT&T I worked in a business office. We got calls daily from people who wanted a car phone. The typical wait for one in 1978 was 5 years (there were only so many channels available and you had to wait for someone to cancel their service). The cost was around $500/mo as I recall. Didn’t get many requests to be put on the waiting list. 😩

I had a friend with one. You picked up the handset and to place a call, asked for the mobile operator. You could not dial direct. He drove a huge Cadillac and the equipment took up about ⅓ of the trunk.

Jeff Donald wrote:

I had a friend with one. You picked up the handset and to place a call, asked for the mobile operator. You could not dial direct. He drove a huge Cadillac and the equipment took up about ⅓ of the trunk.

Private eye shows from the sixties often showed off such phones. Mannix was one, if I recall.

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.

I do almost none of those things because I care about privacy—just the non-optional ones. No smart-gadgets, no FindMyPhone, no public wifi without a VPN. But I am not a techie so I have to depend on and learn from those who are. I’m afraid we as consumers have little choice and the privacy war was lost 25 years ago. Unfortunately. Tech didn’t have to be this way.

My 1993 Dodge Caravan- (and this was my first vehicle AND my license in 1998, at the age of 22, because I owned a daycare and needed it) had one that looked JUST like this one. I never had to activate it because by then I had an actual cellphone a good ol’ Nokia. I don’t know that it would have even worked by then, honestly.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

Well. I strongly suggest that you DO update to 18.3 immediately. You are at much greater risk from the existential 28 security vulnerabilities that 18.3 blocks than you are from a hypothetical risk from a feature that most iPhone can’t even have, and that is off by default on those few iPhones that are eligible.

Performative complaints about Mr. Musk are so much more fun!

Moran Moraine wrote:

I do almost none of those things because I care about privacy—just the non-optional ones. No smart-gadgets, no FindMyPhone, no public wifi without a VPN. But I am not a techie so I have to depend on and learn from those who are. I’m afraid we as consumers have little choice and the privacy war was lost 25 years ago. Unfortunately. Tech didn’t have to be this way.

Using VPN actually reduces your online security. Even with public WiFi.

KiltedTim wrote:

Forbes is completely worthless when it comes to any information regarding Apple. I don’t believe I’ve seen another outlet that exhibits more anti-apple bias.

Okay but if you go read about any other news source you will read that there were 29 security vulnerabilities fixed in iOS 18.3.

Zachyy wrote:

KiltedTim wrote:

Okay but if you go read about any other news source you will read that there were 29 security vulnerabilities fixed in iOS 18.3.

I just went to the source: About the security content of iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 - Apple Support

and miscounted. From the point of view of the importance of updating, a distinction without a difference.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

Zachyy wrote:

KiltedTim wrote:

Okay but if you go read about any other news source you will read that there were 29 security vulnerabilities fixed in iOS 18.3.

I just went to the source: About the security content of iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 - Apple Support

and miscounted. From the point of view of the importance of updating, a distinction without a difference.

I didn’t realize Apple publicly disclosed that information, so thank you.

Zachyy wrote:

I didn’t realize Apple publicly disclosed that information, so thank you.

Yes, they are quite open about any vulnerabilities they have fixed. Not the ones they haven’t fixed, obviously.

Here is the entry point to security update information→Apple security updates - Apple Support

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.

You’re telling people not to install Apple’s security updates?

Not good advice. You may be doing more harm than good.

You’re very likely helping bad guys and hurting good people!

What is the source of your claim?

It’s been debunked in multiple messages here, already.

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 ☺️