Apple to Publish Privacy Labels for Preinstalled iOS Apps on Website
Apple today assured that its new requirement for privacy information on the App Store will apply equally to all iOS apps, including its own.
This means that the dozens of Apple apps available through the App Store, such as Apple Books and Apple Podcasts, will display the same privacy "nutritional labels" as third-party apps. And for built-in iOS apps, like Messages, Apple says that it will make the same privacy information available to users on its website. Apple says this information will be presented in the same way as it appears on the App Store.
This clarification comes in response to Facebook-owned WhatsApp accusing Apple of a double standard with the privacy labels. WhatsApp said that the broad terms displayed in the labels could result in users being concerned about the data that WhatsApp collects, putting it at a competitive disadvantage compared to Apple's built-in Messages app.
Developers are required to include this new privacy information when submitting new apps and app updates to the App Store as of December 8. It is unknown when exactly the privacy labels will begin appearing in the App Store.
Apple's developer portal offers more information about the new privacy detail requirements.
Top Stories
The iOS 14.3, iPadOS 14.3, and macOS Big Sur 11.1 updates that are live as of today introduce a new App Privacy labeling feature for the App Store and macOS App Store, giving customers a way to determine what data an app collects about them before choosing to install it.
Apple first introduced these labels at WWDC, and has given developers until now to prepare for them. Developers need to...
The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce this week sent a letter to Apple [PDF] inquiring about the accuracy of the App Privacy labels that Apple asked developers to start adding to apps back in December.
In the letter, the committee asks Apple about reports suggesting that some App Privacy labels are offering "misleading and false information." The query was prompted by a January...
Apple has used its app review process as a bulwark in recent legal assaults on its App Store policy, and put particular emphasis on the security benefits for iOS users when buying apps. However, an investigation has found that almost 2% of the top 1,000 highest grossing apps on a given day were some sort of scam.
According to The Washington Post, which conducted the investigation, scam apps...
Apple today informed developers that they're now able to submit privacy information for their apps using App Store Connect. The privacy details shared by developers will be displayed directly on App Store pages.
During WWDC, Apple announced a new App Store feature that will see apps listing specific privacy information, which Apple has likened to a nutritional label for apps. Developers are...
Apple today informed developers that it has introduced additional guidance for App Store privacy labels, a feature that Apple has been requiring for all apps since December.
Apple says that rules surrounding data types like email, text messages, and gameplay content have been expanded to make it easier for developers to understand and comply with requirements.Additional details have been...
WhatsApp is protesting Apple's requirement that developers submit information about what user data they collect to create new privacy labels on the App Store (via Axios).
WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, has accused Apple of anti-competitive behavior because iMessage is preinstalled on iPhones and does not need to be downloaded from the App Store, where the new privacy labels will be...
Google today quietly added App Privacy labels to its Gmail app, marking the first of its major apps to receive the privacy details aside from YouTube.
Though App Privacy information has been added to Gmail, Google has done so server side and has yet to issue an update to the Gmail app. It has been two months since the Gmail app last saw an update.
Earlier in February, the Gmail app was...
Google will soon make it harder for third-party apps to see what other apps are installed on a user's Android device, a policy change that evokes similar privacy protections Apple introduced in iOS 9, way back in 2015.
According to XDA-Developers, upcoming amendments to Google's Developer Program Policy will limit which apps can access an Android user's full list of installed apps. As noted...
Four months after Apple first began requiring apps to add App Privacy labels to their App Store listings, Google has finally updated all of its most popular apps with the information, letting people know exactly what data Google is collecting.
Google began adding App Privacy labels to its apps in February after months of delaying. Gmail, for example, got App Privacy labels on February 22,...
Last month, Apple introduced a new privacy section in the App Store to inform users about some of the data types that apps may collect, and whether that data is linked to them or used to track them. Developers have been required to provide this info to Apple when submitting new apps and app updates to the App Store since December 8, 2020.
Interestingly, Fast Company noticed that Google has...
Top Rated Comments
I'm sure Apple absolutely knew that some poor, downtrodden company would trot that position out sooner or later.
They waited for the other company to complain, then they countered.
Let the other player make the opening gambit and then respond - with what you were always going to do anyways.
Smart.
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/12/09/whatsapp-protests-app-store-privacy-requirements/