> and hardly constitute source material

Are you suggesting that the author is unreliable?

I did read the article, and I did click on some of the links (internal and external) and read those. I've also encountered a wide variety of other material over the years, and personally witnessed or experienced some of what the article has complained about.

Either way I'd love to know how you reached the conclusion that Apple is actually committed to privacy, regardless of whether you were influenced by this one particular article.

> As a developer the data you mention, model of phone etc. is needed

I see you're a creative, as opposed to a developer, and I'm wondering if you perhaps don't understand the implications of the kind of data we're talking about. Nobody cares about the model of your phone, we're talking about where you've been, who you've been in contact with, and what you've been doing. Companies like Apple and Google are able to build a profile on you that could predict your state and behavior to a degree that would take your breath away.

None of the big companies, not one, have your or my interests at heart, and if you're not concerned about what your (or other) governments have on you you should consider that a massive privilege that you live somewhere where you're not feeling the pressure of that power being applied to you. Yet.