Apple Gave the Government Data on More than 12,000 customers in 2018

Privacy and Identity theft is a significant issue affecting both individuals and multinational companies in today’s time. Besides, numerous insurance firms now offer both cyber insurance as well as identity theft insurance. Moreover, insurance companies could also request companies like Apple to provide details about a particular individual while processing an insurance claim under Financial identifiers.

Apple, on numerous occasions, has stated that they are committed to keeping the data of their customers safe. Apple received more than 15,000 requests from the U.S. government to access customers’ data. Apple approved more than 81% of such requests made by the U.S. government. Apple also received 181 requests from private parties to provide the data of Apple’s U.S. customers, 29% of such requests were approved by Apple.

Apple also receives multi-device requests related to fraud investigations. Apple received 4,680 device requests between July and December 2018 from the U.S.

Individuals covered under an identity theft insurance are better equipped in case personal info is breached from the database of a company. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), identity theft insurance will cost an individual between $25 and $50, respectively, per year.

The following are a list of expenses typically covered under a typical identity theft Insurance

· Legal costs

· Credit monitoring services

· Notary costs

· Wages lost

· Copies of credit card reports

· Childcare costs

Direct financial losses are not covered under an identity theft insurance policy, barring some of the expenses of identity theft. Considering the number of financial transactions that take place through an iPhone, it is always safe to insure yourself against a data breach no matter how reputed the company is.

United States National Security

Apple receives requests in response to national security-related investigations seeking customer data. The following graph highlights the different categories under which data was requested from Apple by the U.S. government.

Device Requests

Device requests include information collected through device identifiers such as Apple serial number, IMEI, or MEID.

Law enforcement investigations on behalf of users, concerning stolen or lost devices, usually seek information regarding device connections to Apple services through data requests.

Apple also receives multi-device requests related to fraud investigations. Apple received 4,680 device requests between July and December 2018 from the US

Financial Identifiers

Law enforcement investigations regarding fraudulent transactions generally seek information through Financial Identifier requests based on financial identifiers such as credit/debit card or an iTunes Gift Card.

Apple received about 960 financial identifier requests between July and December 2018 in the US

Account

Account requests are based on account identifiers such as an Apple ID or email address.

Law enforcement investigation related to fraudulent or unlawful use of an account may make account requests. An account request may seek a customer’s content to data including

· Photos

· Email

· iOS device backups

· Contacts

· Calendars

Apple received about 2,669 account requests between July and December 2018 in the U.S.

Law enforcement officials can also make an account preservation request based on identifiers such as Apple ID or email address. Apple preserves a one-time copy of a customer’s account data when a valid legal request for the data is obtained.

An account restriction/deletion request can ask Apple to restrict or delete a customer’s account. Law enforcement officials with a court order can request apple to delete or restrict a customer’s data when an account is used unlawfully.

Emergency

Emergency requests are made during circumstances that could lead to imminent death or physical injury to any individual. Such requests could also be made when law enforcement officials believe that a person is missing or is in danger.

Apple received 189 emergency requests between July and December 2018 in the United States.

United States Private Party

Apple also receives non-governmental private party requests seeking information such as

· Purchase transactions

· Apple services

· Product registrations of a particular customer

Such information is usually provided for civil or criminal litigation proceedings when a subpoena is issued for information.

Apple began reporting on U.S. Private Party requests in Transparency Report Period July 1 - December 31, 2016.

Source:

https://www.apple.com/legal/transparency/us.html

https://www.apple.com/privacy/approach-to-privacy/