Apple introduced Privacy Labels with iOS 14.3 and the new section appears on every App Store listing below the ‘What’s New’ section. Apple manually reviews all apps that appear in the iPhone App Store, preventing most abusive, deceptive or malicious apps from being listed, but even apps that follow the rules may collect data that the user is unaware of. Collecting user data isn’t always a bad thing and in many cases, it is with full awareness and consent, but sometimes what is being harvested while using an app is less clear, and this is where Apple's Privacy Labels come in.
Apple has more incentive to protect user privacy than some other tech companies. Since businesses exist to make money and to grow, simply following the money can often reveal internal conflicts. Whereas Google and Facebook offer free services and monetize user data, Apple simply charges for the products and services it provides, so the need to gather data for use by advertisers is greatly reduced. Apple does sell advertising, but Apple News, Stocks and the App Store do not provide enough revenue to compromise its efforts at privacy. In fact, championing privacy has become a selling point for Apple products as the company actually makes money by siding with the user over privacy.
iPhone owners that have iOS 14.3 or higher installed can now view Apple’s new Privacy Labels for downloaded apps, or check before installing new apps. App Store Privacy Labels appear about half-way down an app’s listing when viewed on an iPhone, below the ‘What’s New’ section. The heading is ‘App Privacy’ and it provides the name of the app seller, a link to the developer’s privacy policy and a summary of the types of data collected by the app. Tapping ‘See Details’ will provide additional information that Apple collects from developers.
Types Of Data & Privacy Label Limitations
Not every kind of data must be disclosed. For example, data that is not used for tracking for advertising or marketing, infrequently collected information that is not a primary function of the app, and data that is clearly provided by the user on-screen in the app do not need to be disclosed. In other words, a feedback form that the user purposely fills in is not considered to be a privacy concern. Customer service request submissions, if the app isn’t solely designed for facilitating these messages, also do not need to be disclosed. There are some potential loopholes, but since Apple is very strict with the App Store, most developers will not attempt to skirt the rules.
The types of information that are of most concern are the user’s name, email, phone number, address, contact list, health data, credit card and other financial information, and physical location. Privacy Labels go even further, requiring apps to reveal whether they access user content, such as photos, email or text messages, gameplay content, browsing history, search history, advertising data and product interaction, as well as whether the app collects diagnostic data, such as crash logs. Apple did a very thorough job of covering various types of information and it’s a welcome change, as details that might escape human attention can be easily digested by machine learning to detect patterns and make connections to individuals. Privacy is a big issue and Apple’s Privacy Labels are a huge step forward in helping consumers regain control of personal information.
Source: Apple