As part of iOS 14, Apple is introducing a new App Store feature that will provide privacy details for each app that you're downloading, which the company has said can be likened to a "nutrition label" for apps.
In a new Developer Support document, Apple outlines the information that developers will need to provide on their App Store pages for customers. Apple is relying on developers to offer up their own privacy policies, and developers will need to start adding this information to App Store Connect starting in the fall.
Later this year, the App Store will help users understand an app's privacy practices before they download the app on any Apple platform. On each app's product page, users can learn about some of the data types the app may collect, and whether that data is linked to them or used to track them. You'll need to provide information about your app's privacy practices, including the practices of third-party partners whose code you integrate into your app, in App Store Connect starting this fall.
Apple says that developers will need to identify "all possible data collections and uses," providing a list of data types that will be shown in the App Store labeling.
Customers can expect to see details on all of the data collected by an app, ranging from name, email address, and address to payment info, location, contacts, and more. Apps will need to make it clear when they access photos, texts, browsing history, purchase history, and more, and whether advertising and diagnostic data is collected.
Apps will need to disclose what the data collected is used for, such as first-party advertising, third-party advertising, analytics, app functionality, or product personalization, and whether data is linked to a user's account, device, or identity.
Developers are also required to understand and outline whether data collected is used for tracking users, aka providing data collected from the app with third parties for targeted advertising purposes.
More information on what developers will need to provide for their App Store listings can be found in Apple's developer document. This feature is expected to become available when iOS 14 launches to the public, though Apple does not appear to have given developers deadlines for when the information needs to be added to the App Store.
