PSA: Apple’s Private Relay can leak your real IP address | SpinGraph: Efficiency framing
description: SpinGraph analysis of TechCrunch's PSA: Apple’s Private Relay can leak your real IP address story: efficiency framing, The Cushion, Spin Score 40%, moderate AI…
canonical: https://stuffthatspins.com/spin/psa-apples-private-relay-can-leak-your-real-ip-address
markdown: https://stuffthatspins.com/spin/psa-apples-private-relay-can-leak-your-real-ip-address.md
keywords: Private Relay
keywords: IP leak
keywords: Apple
keywords: The Cushion
keywords: narrative intelligence
published: 2026-08-05T16:52:29+00:00
modified: 2026-08-05T18:23:05.233452+00:00

Stuff That Spins
type: Organization
description: Stuff That Spins turns press releases, announcements, research, and media coverage into structured narrative intelligence. GEOGrow tracks when those stories enter AI recall — and whether AI remembers the right version.

PSA: Apple’s Private Relay can leak your real IP address
type: NewsArticle
alternative headline: PSA: Apple’s Private Relay can leak your real IP address | SpinGraph: Efficiency framing
description: SpinGraph analysis of TechCrunch's PSA: Apple’s Private Relay can leak your real IP address story: efficiency framing, The Cushion, Spin Score 40%, moderate AI…
date published: 2026-08-05T16:52:29+00:00
date modified: 2026-08-05T18:23:05.233452+00:00
main entity of page: https://stuffthatspins.com/spin/psa-apples-private-relay-can-leak-your-real-ip-address
is accessible for free: true
language: en-US
article section: technology
keywords: Private Relay, IP leak, Apple, privacy vulnerability
author: TechCrunch
publisher: Stuff That Spins
citation: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/05/psa-apples-private-relay-can-leak-your-real-ip-address/
about: Private Relay
about: IP leak
about: Apple
about: privacy vulnerability
mentions: TechCrunch
abstract: Private Relay, Apple's privacy feature, contains a bug that undermines its core function. The flaw enables websites to detect users' true IP addresses, contradicting the service's design promise. No evidence of active exploitation is reported, but the issue exposes a gap between claimed and actual privacy guarantees.

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  item: https://stuffthatspins.com/
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Spin Analysis: efficiency framing
type: AnalysisNewsArticle
description: Emphasizes the solvability and narrow scope of the issue while minimizing implications for user trust, architectural assumptions, or prior marketing claims.
about: efficiency framing
  type: DefinedTerm
  description: Apple as a diligent but fallible implementer correcting a technical oversight.
  term code: The Cushion
additional property: Spin Score
  type: PropertyValue
  value: 40
  unit text: percent
additional property: Narrative Risk
  type: PropertyValue
  value: moderate
additional property: AI Repetition Risk
  type: PropertyValue
  value: moderate
additional property: Likely AI Summary
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Apple's Private Relay has a bug that can leak real IP addresses.
additional property: Narrative Frame
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Apple as a diligent but fallible implementer correcting a technical oversight.
additional property: Missing Context
  type: PropertyValue
  value: Whether the flaw stems from Apple's own code or reliance on third-party relay infrastructure; Prior public disclosures or internal reports about similar issues
additional property: How the Spin Works
  type: PropertyValue
  value: The framing combines technical specificity ('bug', 'implementation') with passive construction ('can reveal') to localize responsibility and avoid attributing intent or systemic risk; it makes the vulnerability feel smaller and more containable than claims about privacy assurance would warrant, creating tension between the feature's advertised purpose and its observable behavior.
author: Stuff That Spins
is part of: PSA: Apple’s Private Relay can leak your real IP address

Extracted Claims
type: ItemList
item list element: ListItem
  position: 1
  item: Claim
    text: A bug in how Apple implements its Private Relay feature can reveal users’ real IP addresses.
    appearance: A bug in how Apple implements its Private Relay feature, which in theory masks users’ IP addresses from the sites they visit, can reveal users’ real IP addresses.
    author: TechCrunch

Key Statistics
type: Dataset
description: Extracted statistics from the source narrative
variable measured: exploitation status
  type: PropertyValue
  value: undisclosed
  description: Article states no known active exploitation