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Apple is rolling out its new privacy policies and upcoming apps will come with a label to inform you of the data they are collecting. The company already announced this earlier this year, and is now updating its published policies so users are more aware of decisions. But some app makers say this gives Apple an unfair advantage and does not protect user privacy, but rather monopolizes it. Apple has also promised that it will manually review reports for apps that do not correctly represent its data collection, which could make the exercise moot, given the scale of the App Store.
Apple’s new privacy page, updated Monday night, used to talk only about app permissions, but now it speaks clearly about user data and promises easy-to-read summaries. In a virtual briefing, Apple explained that this will be an easy-to-use summary of the privacy practices reported by the developers.
“We are now starting to publish this information for users on all of our platforms. This report of the privacy processes is part of the delivery of the application to all users, including Apple for its own applications, ”explained an Apple executive.
Unfair treatment?
However, not all developers agree. Last week, WhatsApp criticized the move, saying that requiring “privacy nutrition labels” on the App Store gives Messages, Apple’s pre-installed messaging app, an unfair advantage. Apple responded by saying that all of its apps will also receive tags on the web, although of course, since they are not in the App Store, the user will have to search to find this information.
Apple, however, also noted that this process is still under development. “It is creating an easy-to-use system for all applications and it will evolve over time,” said the Apple executive.
“This new privacy information is required for all applications in all of our application stores, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS, when developers send updates or new versions,” added the company. “This privacy practices report is part of the application submission process for all developers, and all application developers globally, including Apple, must answer the same questions.”
The applications will show the type of data that an application is collecting and if it will be used to track the user and also if this data will be linked to a person. If your information is used in one application and then linked to data from another application, website, or platform, Apple sees it as a trace. And the data linked to a user is linked to their identity through their user account in the application, their device or other details.
Trust self-assessment
In the future, developers will be able to create and update tags in the developer portal; there is a form that contains all the information that they can complete and that will then be displayed in the App Store. This information will not be verified by Apple, explained the executive, but will be based on community reports.
“We will rely on self-reports, this works well for a number of things, like age ratings,” Apple said. “If we hear or understand that there may be an inaccuracy, we will contact that developer to try to understand if there is an inaccuracy.
Gadgets 360 clarified that this means that Apple will not take automatic action against a developer if there are user reports about the collection of data that is not on the nutrition label. One executive said, “We will speak to them personally” in case of any inaccuracies.
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