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.
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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Earlier in February, the Gmail app was displaying warnings about the app being out of date as it has been so long since new security features were added, but Google eliminated that messaging without pushing an update to the app.
Apple has been enforcing App Privacy labels since December, and Google has been slow to support the feature. Google said in early January that it would add privacy data to its app catalog "this week or next week," but by January 20, most apps still had not been updated with the App Privacy.
Google has since been adding App Privacy labels to apps like YouTube and some of its smaller apps, but of major apps like Google Search, Google Photos, and Google Maps, Gmail is the first to get the new labeling.
There is nothing hugely unexpected in the Gmail App Privacy data, with Google listing location, user ID, and usage data as information that's shared with third-party advertisers.Purchases, location, contact info, user content, search history, identifiers, and usage data are used for analytics purposes, product personalization, and app functionality.
Though most Google apps went months without an update and still have yet to be updated, apps like Google Translate, Google Tasks, YouTube Music, and YouTube TV have been updated with new content and bug fixes. These apps were quietly updated with App Privacy labels prior to when their content was updated, however.
Now that Gmail has App Privacy labels in place, we may soon see the information made available for other Google apps, and Google may resume the regular updates that were offered for iOS apps prior to when Apple implemented the new rules.
Top Rated Comments
Also why does an email client need device diagnostic data, or location data? It’s an email client, not food services app (where it would use location data to find the closest store)
There needs to be gov regulation making this kind of thing totally illegal IMHO. No reason online ads tracking the location of Americans behind their backs should even be a thing, at all. We let this get way out of hand and it needs to be reigned in ENTIRELY. As in, made totally illegal. Location tracking should be tied to product features only, and should be totally anonymous from the developer's perspective. This garbage is ridiculous.