The next release of Apple’s iOS 14.5 will ship with a feature that will redirect all Safari Safe Browsing traffic through Apple-controlled proxy servers as an alternative solution to preserve user privacy and prevent Google from discovering IP addresses iOS users.
The new feature, identified by a Reddit user earlier this week and covered in an 8-bit report, was formally confirmed by Maciej Stachowiak, Apple’s Head of Webkit Engineering.
The new feature will only work when users enable the “Fraudulent Website Warning” option in the iOS Safari application settings.
This allows support for Google’s Safe Browsing technology in Safari. Safe Browsing technology works by taking a URL that the user is trying to access, sending the URL in an anonymous state to Google’s Safe Browsing servers, where Google accesses the site and checks for threats.
If malware, phishing forms or other threats are found on the site, Google tells the user’s Safari browser to block access to the site and show a full-screen warning in red.
A few years ago, when Google launched the Safe Browsing API, the company knew which sites the user was accessing; in recent years, Google has taken several steps to anonymize data sent from users ’devices using the Safe Browsing feature.
But although Google has anonymous URL strings, when sending the link in a clipped and hashed state, Google still sees the IP address from which a Safe Browsing check comes from.
Apple’s new feature basically takes all of these Safe Browsing checks and passes them through an Apple-owned proxy server, making all requests appear to come from the same IP address.
Many would consider the change useless, as Google would still not be able to see which URL the user was checking, but the feature is consistent with other measures that Apple has been taking recently, with a focus on improving the privacy of its users.
Many of these features often invade and disrupt Google’s large presence in the user analysis and tracking industry.
This includes pioneering extensive anti-tracking features in Safari and forcing app manufacturers to add “privacy labels” to their listings on the App Store, a requirement that Google has mysteriously avoided by simply not updating any of their apps. since last year.
iOS 14.5 is currently in beta and is expected to be released in the coming months.