Leonard Botezatu
Safari is more private than Chrome by default, but “private” is not a binary. Every major browser is funded by an organisation with an interest in what you do, and that incentive shapes the product.
According to this article from Forbes, Apple's latest ad campaign is drawing some inspiration from Hitchcock's "The Birds," and delivers a chilling message about smartphone privacy.
The takeaway? If you value your online privacy, stick with Safari... basically stay away from Google Chrome.
...the following is my own personal opinion:
Is Safari private?
The short answer is no! The long answer... well Google it! Is it more private than Chrome? Yes. Does it matter? (To me) no, not really. The browser privacy question should have a binary answer: yes/not private.
Most (if not all) browsers collect and store a vast amount of personal data, including browsing history, search queries, location data, login credentials, and much more. And many websites and third-party services (if not all) track users' online activities to build detailed profiles for targeted advertising and other purposes.
Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, and Opera all use Google's Chromium. Apple receives billions to make Google the default search engine in Safari, and Firefox has a similar deal where they receive hundreds of millions each year.
The problem? The web is too essential to have one primary source of funding, and too important to have that source of funding be advertising.
Firefox, my long time favorite now is really living up to its name—burning through users faster than a forest fire after announcing introduction of 'privacy-protecting ad measurements' API in collaboration with Meta, and through the acquisition of the "privacy-friendly" advertising platform Anonym.
I think privacy is not a privilege, but a human right and browsing the web should follow this simple principle.
Hope is not all lost
I'm very excited and intrigued about Ladybird - a brand new browser & web engine meaning it's not based on WebKit or Chromium like all browsers today, not backed by advertising but a nonprofit funded exclusively by donations, and being built with love by the dev community.
If you are a developer and want to get involved, go here: https://ladybird.org/#gi
What Apple's ad actually claims
The ad is not a technical comparison. It is a threat model, told in ninety seconds. Birds swarm a man who keeps using Chrome; the message is that every tab is another flock of trackers. Apple does not publish a benchmark in the spot. It sells a feeling: your phone is yours, and the other browser is not.
There is substance behind the feeling. Safari blocks third-party cookies by default, limits cross-site tracking through Intelligent Tracking Prevention, and offers Private Relay for iCloud+ subscribers. Chrome allows more tracking by default because Google's advertising business depends on it. Those defaults matter, especially for people who will never open a settings menu.
Follow the money
Apple is not a neutral referee. Google reportedly pays Apple around $20 billion a year to be the default search engine in Safari. That arrangement is the most valuable default in technology, and it exists because search advertising is enormously profitable. Apple protects its users from Google's trackers while taking Google's money to point them at Google's search.
Firefox has a similar deal, at a smaller scale. Mozilla's dependence on search revenue is why its long list of privacy features has never quite added up to independence from advertising. When a browser's income comes from an ad company, the browser can still be better than the alternative. It cannot be neutral.
What actually protects you
Privacy is a practice, not a purchase. A few things do more than switching browsers:
- Use a content blocker and keep it updated. Most tracking is blocked at the request level, not by the browser brand.
- Separate identities. A different browser profile for shopping, work and personal accounts breaks the join key that ad tech relies on.
- Change the default search engine. The browser matters less than the box you type into.
- Use a DNS resolver you trust. It sees every domain you visit, whichever browser you use.
- Assume anything you post publicly is permanent. No browser setting fixes that.
The honest answer
For most people, Safari is the more private default on an iPhone. That is a real advantage, and it is reasonable to choose it. But "more private" is a comparison, not a guarantee. The binary question, is it private yes or no, is the wrong question, and Apple benefits from people asking it that way.
The right question is: private from whom, and at what cost? A browser funded by advertising has one answer. A browser funded by hardware sales has another. A browser funded by donations, like Ladybird, has a third. None of them is free of incentives. Knowing which incentive you are accepting is the actual skill.