Apple will require apps to add privacy ‘nutrition labels’ starting December 8th

[Karlston]

Apple will require apps to add privacy ‘nutrition labels’ starting December 8th

The labels explain what data is collected at a glance 

Image: Apple

Apple debuted a collection of privacy features when it announced iOS 14, but the company’s privacy “nutrition label” concept did not arrive with the launch of the new operating system in September. Today, Apple announced that developers will be required to provide the information for those “labels” starting December 8th.

 

Like a normal nutrition label that lists ingredients and caloric content, these privacy “labels” should give you a better idea of what’s going on inside an app before you download it from the iOS App Store or Mac App Store. The labels will list what information an app collects, and present that visually on the app page, much like looking at the backs of labels in a grocery store.

A mockup of an iPhone displaying the App Store labels

Image: Apple

The catch, of course, is that while developers are required to disclose this information to continue releasing and updating apps, all of the information developers provide will be self-reported, which could still leave some possibility for foul play.

 

Apple’s Developer site cautions that developers will be required to disclose all the information they and their third-party partners collect and keep their “labels” up to date. For example, if an app needs to know your precise location to work, you’ll know that before you even download it. If GPS functionality is ever removed from the app, a new label will have to reflect that. Apple does offer some exceptions when these label disclosures are optional, but the important thing to know that if an app intends to track you consistently, you’ll know about it before it’s on your phone.

 

Providing this information is an easier-to-digest way to keep users informed on how exactly their phone is being used to track them. Apple already aggressively manages permissions inside apps, but these labels could be an even earlier line of defense. Developers can start submitting their apps’ information now ahead of the December 8th deadline.

 

 

Apple will require apps to add privacy ‘nutrition labels’ starting December 8th

 

[byntf]

If not for "Apple does offer some exceptions" and "all of the information developers provide will be self-reported" this would be a small step in the right direction, and would probably be enough for me to pay the "Apple Premium" and switch ferom Spygle's Android phones. With those two caveats in place, the crooks will still crook, and thieves will still thieve. Better than Spygle's Android, but still not worth the much higher prices and fewer choices in apps and OS control/hacks/work-arounds for me.

[mood]

Google’s iOS apps haven’t been updated in weeks. Could Apple’s privacy labels be the reason?

As of December 8, Apple requires developers to publish privacy labels for their apps. The last time Google updated any of its iOS apps was the day before.

 

 

Not a single one of Google’s iOS apps have been updated in almost a month—an unusually long period for a tech behemoth not to release, at the very least, even a minor bug fix or stability update for one of its dozens of insanely popular iPhone and iPad apps. And after reviewing the latest release dates for all of Google’s iOS apps, one reason for this lack of updates seems more likely than others: It could be related to Apple’s new App Store privacy labels.

 

The last time any Google iOS app was updated was on December 7. This includes updates to major Google apps like Google Drive, YouTube, Google Docs, Google Sheets, YouTube Music, Google Duo, Google Authenticator, and Gboard.

 

Why is December 7 a significant date? Because starting on December 8, Apple mandated that any new apps or app updates submitted to the App Store would require the developer to fill out the privacy label information for the app it was submitting. This privacy label reveals exactly what data the app is collecting about the user and how that user data is being used. The label can then be viewed on an app’s App Store listing page. The feature is part of Apple’s push to make developers be more transparent in the ways they collect and use user data, so users can make more informed choices about the apps they choose to download.

 

Google did not respond to a request for comment about its lack of updates.

 

When I spoke with Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, Craig Federighi, ahead of the privacy label launch in early December, Federighi told me the labels are something he hopes other app stores copy. But far from copying the privacy label idea for the hundreds of thousands of apps on its own Google Play app store, it appears Google doesn’t even like the idea of privacy labels being applied to its iOS apps in Apple’s App Store.

 

By getting in all its existing apps’ updates on or before December 7, Google has managed to avoid filling out a privacy label for any of their apps so far. You can verify this yourself by launching the App Store app on your iPhone, selecting any Google-owned app in the store, and then checking its privacy label on the app’s listing. As of the time of this writing, you’ll see every Google app’s privacy label still reads, “No Details Provided. The developer will be required to provide privacy details when they submit their next app update.”

 

The current privacy label in Google Maps’ listing on the App Store.

 

Other major apps that Google last updated just under the December 8 wire include Google Home on December 5; Google Pay on December 3; Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Google News on December 2; Google Maps and Gmail on December 1; and Google Chrome on November 30.

 

Google’s Android apps, on the other hand, have been updated well past December 8, including the Android Gmail app on December 16, the YouTube app on December 21, Google Duo on December 15, and Google Maps on December 14,

 

As for why Google might be trying to delay revealing its privacy label information, it’s possible the company saw all the bad press Facebook got when the social media giant was forced to reveal all the ways its apps track users, and the press and social media reactions spooked the company. Facebook Messenger’s privacy labels are horrifyingly long, for example.

For anyone following along, iOS 14 now requires apps to have a “nutrition label” of sorts in regard to what data they collect on you. (This is a good thing) This is facebooks. #privacy #apple #facebook pic.twitter.com/IxKo7sPQjm

— Stu (@Kuja_Stu) December 16, 2020

But if Google is trying to delay the unveiling of its privacy labels for fear of similar bad press, it makes one wonder just how bad its privacy labels are going to be. I mean, it’s hard to believe they could be any worse than Facebook’s. Then again, Google’s user privacy policies, or lack thereof, have historically left much to be desired.

 

Either way, we will eventually find out—the question is when. After all, Google cannot continue not updating any of its iOS apps, which are some of the most popular apps on the iPhone. So when will those updates come?

 

This post will be updated if we hear back from Google.

 

 

Source: Google’s iOS apps haven’t been updated in weeks. Could Apple’s privacy labels be the reason?