Apple will require every app on its App Store to disclose a privacy policy to communicate how the personal data of users are used, come October 3, 2018, after which the apps that fail to adhere to the new rules will be axed.
The change is coming on the heels of the European Union's GDPR regulations which took effect earlier in the year, though the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) simply applies to data protection and privacy for people within the EU region.
The new requirement will provide Apple a ground in the EU laws, and any developer that falls short will be held accountable by way of its privacy policy and the statements contained therein.
While Apple is noted for its strict lockdown on its systems for security and privacy, allowing apps to run on the platform without privacy policies in place is somewhat a let down on its perceived impregnability.
Just recently, security researchers at the GuardianApp project claims that over a dozen apps on the App Store were secretly sharing the location data of “tens of millions of mobile devices” with third-party data mining firms.
These apps transmit the precise locations of users with other sensitive, personal identifiable information, which at most times with “little to no mention” that such data will be shared with third-parties.
Albeit, most apps require access to location data to work properly, like the weather app and fitness app, but sharing the data with third-party as a monetization scheme is certainly taking it too far.
Apple had earlier made known its stance on apps with contentious attributes, such as Onavo, the Facebook owned VPN app which was kicked out of the App Store in August owing to its data zapping tendencies.
The new rules which takes effect on October 3 is certainly part of the change to tackle these issues, and apps with questionable policies or user permissions will ultimately get the axe.
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