Whether you’re thinking of buying a new mobile phone or just considering switching to a different operating system, the one question you can’t avoid is what to choose, Apple or Android?

The dilemma is quite obvious taking into account the fact that with time, both Android & Apple have borrowed so many features from each other, that on the surface, they both seem quite similar, but actually are not.

One big factor to consider when deciding is privacy. With so many data breaches & hackings reported recently, data privacy is an alarming question in every head.

So, the question now becomes, who values your data privacy more, Apple or Android?

To answer this, we’ll discuss a few criteria, under which both the iOS & Android OS can be compared.

WHO COLLECTS MORE PERSONAL DATA FROM YOU?

By personal data, we mean everything from your name, email addresses to data like who you often call, or what you often search on the internet. And here’s how the two companies can be compared on the basis of gathering this data.

As you might already know, a huge chunk of the data on your phone is sent to Google. And this data often includes a lot of your personal information. Now, when it comes to this data collection, Android phones gather more data compared to iOS devices & send it to Google. An evidence to this is the research submitted by a professor of Vanderbilt University.

When so much data is collected from you, your security is already compromised on the first level, as there is no guarantee that this data will not be sold, stolen or hacked, causing you harm.

So, when it comes to data collection, Apple is better!

THE APP STORES

An important part of all our Smart devices is the number of apps that we hoard into it. There’s an app for practically everything we want to do on our devices. Now, typically the apps that we get downloaded on our devices are safe to use. The problem is caused by third-party applications you download from your Google Play Store of Apple’s App Store.

The easiest way to get a virus in your devices is through malicious apps that you might mistakenly download on your devices, putting a lot of your data on stake. Now, chances are that a malicious app can enter your phone, much more easily through Google Play Store, than through Apple’s App Store.

The reason for this difference is that the security check of Apple’s App store is harder to crack, compared to the Google Play Store. This means that malicious apps can be sold much more easily on the Play store, rather than on the App Store.

Moreover, Apple restricts the apps from collecting certain data from the users, making it tougher for malicious apps to get through in your devices & even if they manage to do that, they can’t access a lot of personal information. Also, the popularity of Android devices has caused hackers to target it more against iOS devices.

COMPATIBILITY Vs. PRIVACY

For this, we need to take a look at the Privacy policies of both Apple & Google. So, the privacy policy of Apple boasts a lot about how they maintain greater privacy. On the other hand, Google’s privacy policy boasts of collecting information to increase the compatibility of the devices.

The complete comparison between the two can be summarized in the following points,

Google collects more data from Android devices than Apple does.

Android devices are more compatible than Apple devices, owing to the data they collect, but Apple devices value privacy more.

The data on your Apple devices is encrypted, making it safer.

The data collected by Apple devices is scrambled so that it cannot be traced back to any specific user, but Google does no such thing.

A lot of data is saved on Apple devices, by securing them with encryption, while only a small part is uploaded to iCloud with your permission & no backup is saved there as well. But for Android devices, often more data is saved on your Gmail cloud than you know.

In both cases, you can easily change your permission settings.

So, once again, Apple stands better than Android.

DATA BREACHES

When it comes to facing data breaches, Apple iOS & Android OS, stand at quite the same place. Neither of these can claim that there had been no loss of consumer data due to them. So, the point that stands to be decided here, is who caused more loss of personal data of the consumers.

On one hand is the infamous Apple iCloud Data breach, due to which the iCloud data of a number of celebrities was hacked resulting in their private pictures getting public. This breach leads to really sensitive data being exposed publically & was definitely a big blow to the claims of privacy from Apple.

On the other hand is the case of Google Android bug names Stagefright, that left around 950 million users vulnerable to the threat of hacking through one text message. Just imagine, one text message & all your data can easily be accessed by hackers.

Considering this, neither Apple nor Android can be deemed safe when it comes to Data Breaches, as they have both experienced them equally.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE EFFECT OF BREACHES?

As we mentioned before, both iOS & Android OS stand on the same level, when it comes to breaches. But what matters is what they did to avoid further discomfort to the customers on their part.

One interesting thing to mention here is that Apple never agreed to the fact that an iCloud data breach did in fact happen.

But nevertheless, iOS has gotten better. How?

Well, initially all the data of an Apple user was backed up on their iCloud, which was a major reason for the breach. Now, most of the data is securely saved on their Apple devices, with encryption & only some data is put on the iCloud, that too with your permission. Also, now no backup of your data is created on the iCloud. This is also quite apparent in their Privacy Policy.

But on the side of Android, there has been nothing more than an apology & Android systems still stand vulnerable to hackings & breaches. So, Apple tops Android again.

THE CONCLUSION

Summarizing the whole thing, it will be safe to say that Apple devices prove to be safer than their Android in this Android vs. iOS war based on data privacy. But still, can iOS be seen as the safest? After all, they too have experienced a data breach, and that too a major one. Apple may be safer, but it’s not foolproof either.

Consider external breaches for example, like the Cambridge Analytica data breach of Facebook, that cause the information of so many users to be compromised. In case of such breach, no matter if you are an Android user or an iOS user, your data is equally likely to be affected. So, being an iOS user doesn’t make you completely safe to breaches & hackings.

The only way you can ensure that your data is safe is by saving it somewhere, where only you can access it & no one else.

You must be wondering, how’s that possible?

Well, it is possible with Houm, your digital home.

You read it right. It’s your digital home, where you have your Digital Freedom and you can save whatever you want, without the worry of it being stolen, sold, hacked or misused. What’s better is that only you have access to all the data & media files you put there. Even Houm cannot access the data on your personal domain. You decide who you share your data with.

Isn’t that just perfect?

Well, if you haven’t gotten your Houm, you should definitely get one now.