Among this year’s collection of new privacy features on iOS 15 came Cloud Private Relay, Apple’s response to VPN privacy protection service. Like most of the services Apple builds on iOS 15, it is an accessible and easy solution for the average person to use. However, it also presents a few pitfalls to be aware of.
In short, iCloud Private Relay works by moving all of your traffic with one but two medium-sized servers available at arm length from one. It is a unique process that has never been done before, as it creates a system in which no single organization knows both who you are and where you are going.
This is done with multiple encryption layers, where the original servers process your outbound traffic that cannot read your destination. These servers release your personal information before forwarding your requests to the server section – those that can be controlled by Apple – which can encrypt the captions that indicate where that traffic will end up, so that they can transfer it.
As a result, the sites you visit see traffic from a standard IP address that can be tracked back to you. This exit address will always be available in your country and time zone, but if you prefer, you can have an iCloud Private Relay using your local address.
This latest option works if you want websites to be able to provide more accuracy for things like local news and weather. However, it is common enough that sites will only know what city you are from, rather than your particular neighbor.
More importantly, since thousands of people will be using these IP addresses, there is no way to track networks to use them as a continuous ID to track your activity across the web.
In short, those are good points about iCloud Private Relay, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few drops again.
Below are reasons why you may want to avoid turning on iCloud Private Relay.
- Works Only with Safari
- Slow down performance
- Parental control can be bypass
- Facing problems for some website
- Geographical restrictions can not be bypass.
- and Its in beta stage