At the moment I am thinking about getting a new phone in the foreseeable future. I was long time using android, but switched to iOS 5 years ago because of the longer update period. Now also some android devices offer a longer update support of about 5 years. Now I am thinking about switching back to android.
But i am wondering: is there any big difference from a privacy perspective between iOS and android? I know you can go for custom roms on android that are focused on privacy which i also used in the past, but i am not planning on doing this in the future. So it would come down to stock android vs stock iOS. Any advice there or is all lost anyway?
A few massive differences:
You opt-in to targeted tracking with Apple. It’s impossible to opt-out with Google. Apple also enforces per-app opt-in for tracking.
Apple use your data, but they don’t sell it on
Apple features protect you from 3rd party tracking at a software level (Private Relay) and hardware level (MAC randomisation)
People really like to crap on apple for reasons justified and not. But when it comes to privacy there’s a pretty clear difference in the track records for Google and Apple. Here are some articles that might be worth a read in helping you decide. Really what it boils down to is what matters most to you. Apple may have the better privacy record, but it also locks you into a garden with very high walls. Google/android architecture may be a lot more versatile and provide more hardware options and customizability, but they will harvest and sell every scrap of data they can get their hands on.
https://9to5mac.com/2022/08/25/apple-collect-less-data-than-other-companies/
https://www.tomsguide.com/face-off/iphone-vs-android
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/ios-vs-android/
https://www.techradar.com/news/google-photos-vs-icloud