Following up on T-Mobile and others blocking the use of Private Relay here in the states and in the UK - no they’re not say (checks notes) people on Twitter. It seems CRAZY to base something like this on people on Twitter, but they seem to be what we have now.
Recapping what we heard earlier this week, four carriers in Europe wrote to the European Commission asking the Commission to block Apple’s implementation of Private Relay. Meant to keep carriers from scoping the sites a user visits, targeting them with ads, and selling their info - the carriers argued that Apple’s Private Relay could undermine Europe’s “digital sovereignty” and make the carriers own networks not run as efficiently. While T-Mobile was among the carriers asking permission “over there,” a piece from 9 to 5 Mac said it appeared that carriers such as T-Mobile and EE had “already started blocking Private Relay usage when connected to cellular data” in the UK, and that T-Mobile was also starting that process here in the states. Affected users were reportedly getting a message, saying:
Your cellular plan doesn’t support iCloud Private Relay. With Private Relay turned off, this network can monitor your internet activity, and your IP address is not hidden from known trackers or websites.
For its part, T-Mobile said that was not blocking Private Relay, and that the only customers blocked from using service were the ones who’d applied some sort of content filtering service through the carrier.
We take you now to the digital town hall/screaming match that is the Twitterverse. Shaun Jenks on Twitter replied to the 9 to 5 Mac piece, pointing out that T-Mobile actually hasn’t been a thing in the UK for about 10-years, so they can’t really be blocking things in the UK. That prompted a response from Kindred98, who piled onto 9 to 5 Mac, saying, “FYI: not sure where 9to5 get their info from, but EE doesn’t block it.”
“Au contraire, mon frère,” replied Mr. Jenks, saying:
Well they do for some. Same as Vodafone does for some but works fine for me. However I don’t think it’s the carriers doing this. I think it’s to do with IP Tracking settings in the cellular data section of settings.
“Not that they are likely to tell the truth,” put in Kindred98, “but EE support tells me it’s fully supported + even has a guide on how to use it.”
What led me to that whole exchange was a comment from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman - apparently quoting T-Mobile here in the states. They’re said by Gurman to have said:
Overnight our team identified that in the 15.2 iOS release, some device settings default to the feature being toggled off. We have shared this with Apple. This is not specific to T-Mobile. Again though, we have not broadly blocked iCloud Private
Gurman then directed followers to Monday’s 9 to 5 Mac piece for more information, though that had not been updated since the T-Mobile statement about content filtering. It would have been really neat of Mr. Gurman to elaborate - like indicating which feature defaulted to being toggled off. MacRumors thinks it knows. They read Gurman’s statement as T-Mobile indicating that something in iOS 15.2 is toggling Private Relay off. But wouldn’t that just leave a toggled switch, rather than a message that says “your carrier doesn’t play that way”?
It’d be really cool if Apple would say something about all of this. I’ve reached to to them, though pennies tossed in a fountain have yielded more concrete responses than I’ve ever gotten from Apple.