The Apple TV and Apple TV+ provided the best privacy among streaming hardware and services, though some of its policies aren’t entirely transparent, according to a new report.
Nonprofit organization Common Sense Media recently published a report detailing the privacy of both streaming apps and devices, ranking each service and hardware device on a number of criteria — including whether they sell data, serve targeted ads, or create a profile of viewers.
Both the Apple TV devices and the Apple TV+ streaming service had high levels of privacy compared to rivals like Google TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku Streaming Stick+, and Nvidia Shield TV, according to the report.
Apple received a 79% privacy rating for its hardware set-top box because of its data collection policy. The Apple TV box was also the only streaming device to receive a “pass” rating, while all other services had a “warning” rating attached to them.
However, Common Sense Media points out that Google TV actually had the highest overall privacy rating — 81% — because “Google TV had a more transparent policy despite engaging in some worse privacy practices.” Google TV received a “warning” and not a pass.
The nonprofit organization points out that Apple doesn’t “provide any information about how they protect student data privacy if these product is used in K-12 schools and districts.”
Apple’s streaming service, Apple TV+, also received a 79% and a “pass” rating by Common Sense Media. The organization says that’s because it’s the only streaming service with “privacy built-in by design.” Like with its hardware, Apple did not receive the highest numerical score because it doesn’t detail student data privacy.
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As far as other streaming services, Netflix actually received the worse score with 46%. That’s because it targets users with advertisements and tracks them across other apps and services. Hulu came in second-to-last with 53% because it sold user data, tracks users, and targets ads.
As with the Google TV, YouTube TV ranked highest numerically but still had a “warning” rating. In third place was Disney+ with a 68% privacy rating. Common Sense Media says that’s because it sells user data, targets users with ads, and tracks users.
Common Sense Media put together the report by completing a comprehensive 150-point inspection of each device’s or service’s privacy policy. The full report is available here.