"Here is what we do on our platform. Here is what an unnamed search engine company does, or might in theory do, on their platform. You will probably agree: what we do is better in multiple, obvious ways. To be even less subtle, I am indeed trying to cast our competitor in very bad light."
If they're willing to walk the walk, I don't even mind how transparent this "privacy as a competitive advantage" strategy is.
They have been for years and people wondered why they didn't talk about it because of how it differentiates them from the competition. Now they're talking about it and a common comment here is "they're only doing it because Google makes their money from advertising", well yes that's the point. Kind of funny but predictable.
Having a business incentive that's aligned with privacy is the absolute best thing you could ask for if you want privacy. First because it will ensure they remain committed to it, and also because it shows up the competition and forces them to move in that direction as well.
As long as they have your data and don't give it to anybody else, there is no meaningful difference in privacy based on how they process the data. Why is processing words in emails for search indexing and spam filtering less of a problem for privacy than matching ads to words that appear in emails or figuring out helpful suggestions from them? It isn't, but Apple is happy to pretend it is to the rubes who will pay to use an inferior product.
>They have been for years and people wondered why they didn't talk about it because of how it differentiates them from the competition.
Probably because privacy concerns weren't mainstream until recently, and it would have looked like an excuse because their services weren't up to par. Which, to be frank, is still the case.
In fact, it would be stupid of them NOT to capitalize this golden opportunity.
The unnamed search engine company simply cannot afford to offer the same level of privacy as Apple is capable of offering. Meanwhile, the only other supermassive company whose business model might have allowed them to focus on privacy has just thrown in the towel and decided to become as privacy-invasive as everyone else, starting with the recent free upgrade to their flagship operating system.
Being a hardware company that also happens to sell some cloud-based tools, rather than the other way around, sure has its perks.
If they're willing to walk the walk, I don't even mind how transparent this "privacy as a competitive advantage" strategy is.