Apple will oblige developers to label applications with information about the data collected

From December 8, all iOS developers will have to indicate in their application profiles exactly what data they collect about users. Otherwise, they will not be able to get permission to publish or update. In particular, developers will be required to mark the data that third-party SDKs pull up in their programs.

All this information will be available to users. Even before downloading the application, they will be able to see in the description of the program exactly what personal data is necessary for its functioning.

In fact, we are talking about the appearance of a new label in the App Store. Now the user will be able to find out in advance whether a particular game attracts information, for example, about the browser history or the geographical location of a person.

There will be 14 markers in total (according to the type of data collected): contact information, health and exercise data, financial information, position, sensitive information (race, sexual orientation, faith, etc.), access to contacts (phone numbers and mail of friends, for example), user content, browser history, search history, access to identity and device IDs, information about purchases, application usage data, device diagnostics, other data.

All this will need to be specified, taking into account also what kind of information is collected by advertising and analytical services running in the developer’s application.

However, it is not necessary to note this in all cases. There are exceptions. Marking can be dispensed with if the following criteria are met:

• the data is not used to track users (i.e. it is not transferred to third-party companies, including those engaged in advertising);
• data is collected irregularly, solely at the request of users, and the collection itself is not the main functionality of the application;
• when a user shares his information, it should be obvious to him every time that it is he who tells the application about himself.

You can read more about the innovation on the Apple website. It was supposed to appear simultaneously with the release of iOS 14, but Apple decided to give a delay to developers.

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