14 DAY TRIAL // Privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation is criticizing Apple for the way it handles radio connections in iOS 11, explaining that the way the Control Center options work compromise user security in the new operating system.
As we had already reported to you not a long time ago, Apple has introduced a bizarre system in iOS 11 that makes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi harder to turn off on iPhone and iPad. In short, tapping the dedicated controls in the Control Center don’t actually disable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but only disable the connection temporarily until the device discovers a new location whose settings are already stored.
So for instance if you tap the Wi-Fi icon in the Control Center, the iPhone is disconnected from the connected wireless network, but instead of turning Wi-Fi off completely, it actually only closes the existing connection. This means that when your device detects a known wireless network it automatically establishes a connection, despite many users expecting Wi-Fi to be set to off.
At least let the users know about it
The EFF emphasizes that what Apple should do is to at least inform users of this behavior, as it can result in security and privacy problems for customers.
“A user has no visual or textual clues to understand the device's behavior, which can result in a loss of trust in operating system designers to faithfully communicate what’s going on. Since users rely on the operating system as the bedrock for most security and privacy decisions, no matter what app or connected device they may be using, this trust is fundamental,” the privacy group says.
Additionally, the EFF warns that by simply forcing users to stay connected to certain services, what iOS 11 does is compromise user security, without them even knowing about it.
“Such a loophole in connectivity can potentially leave users open to new attacks. Closing this loophole would not be a hard fix for Apple to make. At a bare minimum, Apple should make the Control Center toggles last until the user flips them back on, rather than overriding the user’s choice early the next morning,” they explain.
Apple has remained completely tight-lipped on this new system from the very beginning and there’s a chance that nothing’s going to change anytime soon despite the criticism.