Apple requires App privacy details in App Store

With iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and tvOS 14, Apple wants to create more transparency within the App Store. For example, you already give permission to the app if it wants to access your photos or location (from iOS 11). In addition, every developer is required to publish their privacy policy. Apple itself also has strict App guidelines that every developer must comply with.

With the announcement of the privacy details app, Apple takes its next step towards transparency. These details will be reflected in the App Store from the end of this year. The user then sees the data types that the app collects before downloading. Apple has grouped the different data types into a number of categories. Below you will find a number of examples of this distribution. A complete overview of the data types is on Apple's website.

Update April 2021: Apple has launched iOS 14.5 where users can choose whether apps are allowed to collect their data. To clarify, a video has also been put online on Youtube ??.

Not only the data that the app itself collects must be mentioned in the App privacy details, also the data that is passed on to the Third-Party Partners*. This includes the data that is indexed by external libraries, frameworks and SDKs. Apple wants to let the user know what information is collected, how they use this data and specifically whether this is used to inform the user track.

*Note: not all data from the Third Party Partners is covered by the App privacy details, provided they comply with the Optional disclosure from Apple.

In addition to passing on the App privacy details, Apple now requires developers to use the new AppTracking Transparency Framework. This means that every new user will see a pop-up asking if the app can collect the data for advertising purposes. Think of it as an Adblocker for Apps. If the user indicates that the app should not collect data, the developer is obliged to disable it for the user. Below you can see an example of this notification.

Do you have an app in the App Store? Fortunately, you don't have to take immediate action. You only provide the updated App privacy details when you are going to update the application or when you are going to add a new app to the App Store. You can then adjust the details at any time in App Store Connect. Good to know is that Apple requires the developer to keep this up-to-date. To adjust the details you need the Admin or Account Holder role. More information on how to apply the new App privacy details is here to find back.

As a full service app developer we know better than anyone what the added value is of a well-developed Native iOS App. Adding the App privacy details is a good step towards a transparent marketplace. Here users can see exactly what is done with their data and for what purpose. More users are expected to be more selective with their data. This makes it more difficult for companies to collect data. However, the data they do collect will be of more value, because these users like to use the app.