Apple took a step forward this year by reviewing and removing applications on their app store that share your location data without your consent. This already violates their Terms of Service – but some developers might have crept into the store by not being vetted correctly.
Several developers had their apps removed and upon re-evaluation of their applications, they had violated Apple’s to date privacy rules. According to the app store the specific rule that these apps violated are as follows:
“Apps that collect user or usage data must have a privacy policy and secure user consent for the collection. . . You may not use or transmit someone’s personal data without first obtaining their permission and providing access to information about how and where the data will be used.”
This means that app developers cannot just simply get a user permission, the user also needs to be informed what their personal information is being used for.
The move comes together with the recent GDPR and PoPI laws. Many technology companies have revamped their policies to be in align with the law.
Apple’s move does merge with the announcements of these laws this year along with recent announcements from Facebook to protect it’s user’s privacy.
The language used in these laws speaks about concerns around how companies collect user data and what they do with this data.
Apple is definitely not under the level of criticism that some other tech giants are for not protecting user data, but we don’t blame for doing what they can to avoid making the same mistakes as the others.