How Google Might Be Accessing Your iTunes Library

Hello! Today, I want to share something intriguing that I've been pondering for a couple of months. It seems that Google has discovered a way to scrape data from an iTunes music library on the same device through one of their apps. I'm not entirely sure which app it is, but it's not through any kind of information sharing or consensual data sharing with Google.

The Mystery of the Music Library

I have a specific set of music, mostly tracks that I copied into my iTunes music library years ago. This collection is now part of my Apple Music library and has never left the app. I don't search for these artists or songs on YouTube, and it's pretty niche stuff. Yet, suddenly around November or December, these tracks began to mysteriously appear in YouTube notifications and recommendations. It was as if YouTube was saying, "Hey, you don't listen to music on YouTube. Why not try YouTube Music? We already have all your music from your library."

How Could This Happen?

This situation is particularly interesting because my music is siloed in iTunes and Apple Music. I'm not aware of any way to access it without some sort of OAuth mechanism. In iOS app development, there's a feature to add a "Sign in with Apple Music" button, allowing third-party apps to access data. However, it seems Google has found a way to scrape song names and artist names from the entire iTunes music library. I suspect this is happening through one of the Google apps installed on my device, allowing them to promote YouTube Music—a direct competitor.

Apple's Potential Response

One would think Apple would go to great lengths to prevent a competitor app from scraping this data. Presumably, the only use for this data is to advertise within Google apps, encouraging users to switch from Apple Music to YouTube Music. It's surprising that Google has figured out a way to do this, despite Apple's likely efforts to prevent it.

Not Just Another Conspiracy Theory

Before jumping to conclusions, I've thought about this for a while. This isn't like those stories where people Google something and then see an ad elsewhere, thinking their phone is listening to them. I understand how ad tracking works, and this feels different. For months, I've considered how Google could access this information, and the only explanation seems to be having an app installed on the same device.

The Bigger Picture

Perhaps it's easier on macOS—maybe Google used the Chrome binary to read my iTunes music library, which would be even crazier. Whatever method they employed to obtain this data is likely interesting, and I imagine there are some heated discussions between Apple and Google developers about adherence to developer terms.

In conclusion, this situation raises questions about data privacy and how companies access and use our information. It's a fascinating topic, and I believe there's more to uncover.

How does Google Scrape library data from Itunes?

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