We all know that apps collect our data. Yet one of the few ways to find out what an app does with our information involves reading a privacy policy. Fortunately, mobile apps should soon have some reasonable disclosure controls, thanks to a recent update for Apple's iOS app store. The revised policy provides information about how the company handles data that its users share, such as location, photos, or contact data. Unfortunately, this information can't be found under the privacy policy, so users must visit the App Store and download the tool called iOS Knowledge Base Services — a .pdf download that will classify apps into three categories, with "notification reports," future disruptions, and "deprecation notices," listed at the bottom of the page.
Additionally, the new policies include a section called "We may also obtain information about you," which includes a distinct limitation that includes only information about purchases. This leaves a lot of room for developers to identify private information like a user's or the service's previous order, payment transactions, devices, content, or contacts — it's possible to discover many kinds of personal information about Apple users without the user's consent. As expected, Apple did not respond to questions about how the company interprets personal information collected from third-party apps.
"For most developers, we don't collect this information themselves; instead, it is reported automatically through an approval loop," Apple says in an FAQ. It point out that it says this information only obtains information about purchases, including credit card information, device identifiers, connection information, identity information, and browsing activity. Said Apple,
The terms of our agreement specify that we are required to report any information we collect in a manner that ensures compliance with all applicable laws, including privacy and security laws. The information we have reported to you so far continues to be disclosed as it is provided so you may make a decision, or decline a decision, about its use. As with regular usage reports, we will review a report for technical compliance issues as well as any public-facing changes that may be associated with it.
Although Apple has revised its policies to regard collection of user data,-but at what cost? It should have embraced transparency right from the start. A transparency report would give users a better idea about what data Apple harvest and how in line it is with its existing data privacy obligations.
Privacy concerns aside, iOS developers sure are eager to learn more, considering they lack the information to gauge their ambitions. More prosaically, does the whole thing matter - the information is all based on Apple gets when selling apps? Does the intelligence leakage effect iOS developers' behavior? Which app categories do you prefer
Additionally, the new policies include a section called "We may also obtain information about you," which includes a distinct limitation that includes only information about purchases. This leaves a lot of room for developers to identify private information like a user's or the service's previous order, payment transactions, devices, content, or contacts — it's possible to discover many kinds of personal information about Apple users without the user's consent. As expected, Apple did not respond to questions about how the company interprets personal information collected from third-party apps.
"For most developers, we don't collect this information themselves; instead, it is reported automatically through an approval loop," Apple says in an FAQ. It point out that it says this information only obtains information about purchases, including credit card information, device identifiers, connection information, identity information, and browsing activity. Said Apple,
The terms of our agreement specify that we are required to report any information we collect in a manner that ensures compliance with all applicable laws, including privacy and security laws. The information we have reported to you so far continues to be disclosed as it is provided so you may make a decision, or decline a decision, about its use. As with regular usage reports, we will review a report for technical compliance issues as well as any public-facing changes that may be associated with it.
Although Apple has revised its policies to regard collection of user data,-but at what cost? It should have embraced transparency right from the start. A transparency report would give users a better idea about what data Apple harvest and how in line it is with its existing data privacy obligations.
Privacy concerns aside, iOS developers sure are eager to learn more, considering they lack the information to gauge their ambitions. More prosaically, does the whole thing matter - the information is all based on Apple gets when selling apps? Does the intelligence leakage effect iOS developers' behavior? Which app categories do you prefer
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