However, when we talk about data handling data, Jessica Ortega, a website security analyst at the city of Scottsdale, Arizona.-based cloud-based security firm SiteLock said, “When it comes to privacy, Android is still the second choice,” she said. “Android’s requirement that data on mobile devices be transmitted to Google servers and used for targeted advertising and building a user profile makes Android the more customizable, but less private mobile operating system.”
On the other hand, Apple has been very transparent and vocal about its commitment to data privacy. They prefer and encourage storing data locally on devices and less on the clouds to prevent targeted ads and other data exploitations.
Security
By now, we are well aware that android collects and sells more data to advertisers than anyone else. But which is easier to get hacked and is more likely prone to get cyber attacked? The answer to this is Apple once again. This is because Apple is very cautious when it comes to the apps being sold on the App Store, due to this scrutiny, less legitimate and shady applications do not get made for their phones.
Android prides itself on being an open-source interface as compared to its competitor. Thus, their Play store has a wide range of applications for all and every purpose. Because of this, every once in a while, a virus or malicious application slides into the store and infiltrates devices where the app is downloaded. This is a huge reason why there are more android viruses made.
In August 2018, Google removed at least 145 Android applications from the Play app store after a security firm called Palo Alto Networks informed Google that there were many infected and malicious content infiltrating users and stealing data. Google’s Android platform is also known to be an open-source that has a much more accessible development platform and Play store. This allows many web developers to create content and applications for Android smartphones easily.
This also gives users a good deal of access to customize their devices easily and freely, leaving certain security details vulnerable. But Apple has a much more restrictive development platform, which restricts all sorts of developers to create malicious content. Also, Apple phones cannot be customized enough for users, leaving its security stoic and firm, leaving iOS devices and iPhones harder to hack.
Software updates
Another reason why android phones can be easily hacked is its software updates. Android updates are infrequent and oftentimes late. In July 2015, a security researcher found a bug in the code of the Android user interface that left almost 950 million devices vulnerable to hackers.
“Google still has very little control over software updates, and Android users are basically at the mercy of their carriers and phone manufacturers when it comes to getting updates or new operating system versions,” Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, a security reporter at VICE’s Motherboard, openly wrote in his article ‘Goodbye, Android,’ explaining why he preferred shifting to iOS.
In addition to that, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an official complaint with the Federal Trade Commission requesting them to investigate wireless carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T Mobile, for not informing their customers that their device could be running without critical security updates.
Conclusion
With software evolution happening daily, and new decentralized technologies coming up this decade, encryption security is the minimum of what software telco companies have to offer their users. But the answer to the question that are iPhones more secure than androids or in other words which smartphone is harder to hack, is the Apple iPhone.
