Skip to main content

Apple now requires app developers to disclose data collection and privacy info

Apple has always considered user privacy one of its core principles, often messaging (and marketing) that it feels it has a strong user-focused approach to privacy that differentiates it from other tech companies. The company announced new privacy initiatives at the Wordwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, and today one of the biggest parts goes into effect: App developers are now required to  their policies on collecting users’ data right in their App Store listing.

Starting today, App Store listings will now have a clear and concise “App Privacy” breakdown of the data collected by the app and how that data is used by the developer. Users will see a breakdown of “Data Used to Track You” (data that could identify and follow you between apps) and “Data Linked to You” (data that will be tied to your device or accounts). Under each section, you’ll see a brief list of categories like contact info, location, personal identifiers, financial info, purchases, and more.

App Store privacy information

Developers were already required to have a privacy policy written as part of their App Store submission, and any changes to that policy are subject to App Store review. But as we all know, it’s very tough to get people to actually scroll down and tap to view the policy — let alone slog through the wall of legal text thereafter.

With Apple’s new layout, privacy information is provided front and center, similar to an app’s reviews or update change log. While most people will probably skip it and just download based on the design, features, and ratings, it’s a big step in the right direction of making people just a bit more aware of what data apps can collect. Perhaps seeing this information upfront before downloading an app can lead to more questions asked, and more developers being held accountable for what they’re doing. Knowledge is power.

This policy is applicable across the App Store on iOS, iPad OS, and MacOS. And while the individual breakdown of privacy information is self-reported by the developer, Apple says it’s had success with self-reporting in other areas, such as age ratings for apps. And of course, if you need to know the exact details, you can always view the fully vetted privacy policy.

In addition to implementing these App Store policies, Apple’s revamping its own privacy page, where it gives a breakdown of privacy, tracking, and data collection policies for each of its apps. Apple’s always been rather transparent about this sort of information, but it’s great to see it lead by example, going above and beyond with its own page. Apple’s own apps will also be subject to the privacy information disclosure in the App Store, though I can bet there won’t be any privacy revelations to be found there.

Editors' Recommendations

Forget Twitter — this social media app has ChatGPT built-in
Koo app store listing

Koo, a social media app developed in India that pushes itself as a Twitter replacement, is deploying ChatGPT smarts to prop its appeal. The company says Koo is the “first microblogging platform in the world” to integrate ChatGPT to boost the creative flow. Koo follows in the footsteps of Snapchat in deploying ChatGPT for some cutting-edge AI bragging rights.
At the moment, the ChatGPT integration is only available to creators with a sizeable following or those with a verified badge. However, it will soon be available for everyone without any follower count restriction. So far, the company hasn’t said anything about charging users for the feature, or whether it might be moved to a premium tier in the near future, considering the fact that OpenAI’s viral tool is embracing the API route for commercial usage.

Aside from text prompts, Koo users can also use the voice dictation feature to interact with the AI. The draft section of Koo app will let users accomplish tasks like “finding the top news of the day or asking for a quote from a well-known personality or even asking for the post or a blog to be written.” The latter is worrisome, which I’ve briefly discussed below. There's also some precedent for that out there with apps like Paragraph AI doing everything from generating content in various styles to taking over even your messaging app conversations.
Koo is pushing itself as a Twitter alternative and says it has accumulated over 50 million downloads ... but hasn’t disclosed the number of users. However, it looks like the Koo is trying to boost its appeal by recruiting the hottest new tool on the internet, one that will also be immensely convenient to churn out human-like thoughtful content in bulk — which is again the easy route to grabbing more eyeballs.

Read more
I created the perfect iPhone home screen — and you can too
iPhone 14 Pro with custom home screen icons and widgets

With iOS 14, Apple began to open the floodgates for software customization on the iPhone. For the first time, you could add widgets to the home screen and even change app icons to custom ones without the need for a jailbreak. And iOS 16 gave us some more customization options in the form of the lock screen, although the interface for that is su-par, to say the least.

While I see a lot of people still use a stock grid layout on their home screen, I took some time when iOS 14 first came out to customize my iOS experience. I enjoy that it’s not just a boring grid of stock icons — having custom icons and widgets really mix things up a bit and gives me a more informative home screen.

Read more
Apple, please release the iPhone 14 in these colors next 
Mockup render of the iPhone 14 in an orange color.

You've probably heard the news by now. Earlier this week, Apple released a new yellow color for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus -- and it's now up for pre-order. Does it look good? I sure think so! It's a bright, vibrant, and saturated yellow that adds a lot of pop to a mostly muted color palette for the iPhone 14 series.

But as much as I like how the yellow looks, it's not the only color I'd love to see the iPhone come in. There are so many possibilities for future iPhone colors, and if Apple's looking for a few tips on what to do next, I have some suggestions. Here are five colors Apple should release the iPhone 14 in next (hopefully soon).
Dark green

Read more