I Asked Apple Everything They Know About Me and This Is What I Found.
Apple, like most tech giants, collects a lot of data about you. Not as much as everyone else – as it’s not the only search engine you rely on for everything – but you can’t use Apple products and services without leaving some sort of digital footprint.
Thanks to the frenzy surrounding the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Apple has made this information much easier to access since we last discussed this topic . Because I enjoy learning more about me, I went to Apple’s new privacy portal and asked for a plate of everything in the company’s data buffet. This is how you can get your copy of your data and what interesting points you can find inside.
How to get a copy of your Apple data
This part is simple. Visit Apple’s Data & Privacy page and sign in with your Apple ID. Find the large section “Get a copy of your data” – you can’t skip it – and click on the link “Request a copy of your data”.
Then you will be taken to a page where you can configure what data you want to receive. My advice? Click Select All. Why don’t you see everything Apple has to offer?
After you click the blue Continue button at the bottom, you will be prompted to select the maximum file size for any of the data archives Apple creates. If you prefer to upload many smaller files rather than several larger files, make the appropriate changes.
Click the “Complete Request” button to do so and be prepared to wait. Unlike its peers, Apple is in no rush to create this archive of data. I submitted my request on Thursday night and I didn’t receive an email stating that my data was ready for upload until Tuesday afternoon. This is not something to expect a few hours after the request.
What’s in your Apple data dump?
When Apple warns you that you can now download its archive, an email will direct you to a website that looks something like this:
Instead of giving you one big download link to get everything – either packed into one archive or divided into sections – you have to click the blue arrows to download each piece of data individually. It’s a little annoying, but that’s it.
What’s inside Apple’s mysterious box?
Don’t worry too much . The Apple ID Account & Device Information folder is pretty cool unless you’ve forgotten what Apple devices you own. (You probably haven’t forgotten about this.)
You can see what you’ve bought from Apple, in «Apple Online and Retail Stores» folder – for me it is a record of digital purchases, starting in 2010. The general table does not tell you what they are. , anyway. You only see order and transaction numbers. You can view a total of all the credit you’ve accumulated on Apple’s digital storefront as well as how much you’ve spent, and a subsequent series of folders breaks down your habits across Apple Music, Apps and Services, Apple Stores, and Testflight Apps.
In these folders, I found a giant spreadsheet detailing everything I listened to on Apple Music , including when I streamed it. While the table is a bit tricky to make sense of – for example, Apple clogs up the list by detailing all the tracks you missed – it’s still fun to see what you’ve been up to. Add some filters to extract additional data, then fire up the pivot table and you have a good idea of your musical preferences for any period of time. When I did this, I was not very surprised by my most popular tracks:
- Waving Through a Window (39) is the hit ” Dear Evan Hansen” that everyone loves and is too high for me to sing.
- You will be found (34) – The second verse is the same as the first.
- Prologue (Enchantress) (30) – Last year I had a terrific opportunity to provide a prologue for the local Beauty and the Beast theater troupe, and I must have practiced quite a bit in the car.
- For Forever (26) – Everyone loves Dear Evan Hansen .
- Neverland (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (25) – I sang it like a solo in a cabaret show I did in early 2017. Again, I really enjoy rehearsing my songs in the car.
- Bells of Notre Dame (24) – I play a lot in the theater, what to say. It is also one of the funniest musical prologues I think I have ever sung.
- Final (23) – Of course, from The Gorback of Notre Dame . Bring Kleenex.
- Hellfire (23) is still one of my favorite songs to listen to (at least for some shows). One day I will be 30 years old, and I will play this role …
Search for the “Store Transaction History.csv” file for a list of everything you’ve purchased from Apple’s digital store , including apps for iOS, tvOS, and macOS; in-game purchases; Subscriptions; movies, books or TV shows; etc. To avoid a nodule in your belly, resist the urge to add up all the numbers in column I: Invoice Total.
The Apps And Service Analytics.csv table gives you a detailed breakdown of all the interesting information that Apple is tracking in its own applications . For example, you will be able to see all the times when you entered or left the Updates tab in the App Store, or when you clicked or clicked on other items in the App Store. It’s a ton of data that you probably don’t need to dig into, but it’s interesting to see what data Apple collects in its own apps (and how much).
You can also see all the reviews you have left for any digital goods that Apple offers – apps, albums, etc. It’s nice to have it all in one table if you need a reminder of old apps or games that you loved but have since forgotten.
Elsewhere in the AppleCare folder, you can view all the repair requests you’ve made for less functional Apple devices. In the Marketing Communications folder, two tables will show you all the promotional emails Apple sent you (and whether you opened those messages or clicked anything on them).
Finally, the various iCloud folders in Apple’s data dump provide you with most of the information you store through the service: browser bookmarks, calendars and reminders, your contacts (in vCard format), and your notes (as text files) . In creating this giant archive of data, you could also include your iCloud files and documents, email, and photos. I didn’t, just to keep the archive from being huge, but it’s worth knowing that such a possibility exists.
How to give Apple less data to work with
When you use Apple hardware, software, and services, know that the company will do its best to learn more about your habits. You have a few options to limit what Apple builds, but you can’t turn off the fire hose – sorry.
On your iOS device, open the Settings app and scroll down a bit until you see the Privacy option. Click on this.
Scroll down the Privacy page to the bottom where you will find two additional options: Analytics and Advertising. Click on Analytics and turn off what you feel uncomfortable with Apple – that’s all if you’re feeling daring. In the Ads section, you can select Restrict Ad Tracking and reset your Advertising ID, so any data Apple has about you will be less useful in providing you with content it thinks might interest you.