An experience of privacy according to the gospels of the Linux, Microsoft and Apple worlds

Quote: "Saying you're not worried about privacy issues because you have nothing to hide is like giving up freedom of speech because you have nothing to say."
Edward Snowden

Privacy summed up by a simple experiment.

Like many technology companies, Microsoft collects information about you. What you do in Windows and on the Web, how and where you use your devices and what kind of content and data you access, for example, is of real interest to the technology industry. In fact, it's their main business.

Technology companies always claim that they collect this information in order to offer you a more tailored and personalized experience. Yes, some kind of data collection is necessary if you want to take full advantage of certain Windows and MacOS / iOS / iPadOS / Chrome features. But companies are also monetizing your data for advertising purposes, and they're making a lot of money out of it!

You can view and control your privacy settings directly in Windows 10 and 11, and delete collected data with Microsoft's online privacy dashboard. The process can be difficult as there are so many settings and options to view and manage, but Microsoft provides step-by-step help. All in all, it's a process well worth undertaking to ensure that your privacy is protected as much as possible.

The bad news is that since Windows and MacOS / iOS / iPadOS are proprietary operating systems, it's not possible to know in absolute terms what information is collected from our local and WEB activity, or what is done with it, despite the endless terms and conditions that we never read and therefore know very little about.

OpenSource operating systems, in other words most distributions based on GNU/Linux, can be a very good starting point for helping to protect your privacy. While some may say that Ubuntu, for example, is "a nest of spies", let's not forget that it's an open-code OS, i.e. it's searchable, which considerably reduces the risk of undue information sharing.

We've carried out a real-life case study between Linux (with a test machine equipped with Zorin OS 16) and Windows / Mac, showing the difference in the way information is processed and passed on to social network ad targeting systems, and from one platform to another. What we saw speaks for itself!

For the test we booked a plane ticket over the phone with a travel agency (not online!), after which the test partner agency confirmed our booking by e-mail only. The booking was then validated by the carrier (with the agency) and confirmed again only by an e-mail sent to us. No more. No less.

While it seems that our activity was not tracked on Linux, the same could not be said of the iPhone we used for testing, nor of Windows. All proprietary OSes. Advertisements related to our travel destination began to swarm during our browsing in the days that followed, both on Facebook and in search engine results.

iOS even went so far as to automatically insert the outward and return dates of the trip into the calendar of our Apple devices, based solely on the email received from the carrier, without us having to perform any manipulation. Great, but... we didn't ask for it!

What are your own experiences in this area? Share them in the comments section of our press site!