Apple Rolls Out Nutrition Label On Its App Store: All You Need To Know
Apple has announced that its Nutrition labels are going live from today. The upcoming apps will have a label that informs you of the data they collect and its usability. The older apps also need to follow the same guidelines by updating the app. To recall, the company announced it earlier this year in its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. From today onwards, these new app privacy labels are going live across all of Apple’s App Stores, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and even on tvOS.
"This reporting of privacy practices is part of the application submission process for all developers and the same question should be answered by every app developer, including Apple, worldwide,” said Apple.
In the developer portal, developers need to fill the form that contains all the information regarding the app and that will be showcased on the App store to the users. Noteworthy, the information submitted by the developer will not be verified by Apple instead it will bank on the community reports.
In case, there is a discrepancy in the information provided by the developer, Apple will not take automatic action against a developer. One of the executives said, "We will talk to you personally" if the inaccuracy arises, as reported by Gadgets 360.
The goal of the new label is to provide an easy way for Apple customers to understand what kind of information the app collects. It is divided into three categories: data that is being used to track you, data associated with you, and data not associated with you.
Meanwhile, Google Play store is still relying on either their technical team for privacy flaws or on community reports. A few weeks ago, Google removed a popular messaging app GO SMS Pro, with 100 million downloads, exposed privately shared data — including photos, videos of its users. This raises serious questions to app hosting platforms on how they evaluate their apps on the basis of privacy.
Likewise, Apple, Google also mandated forms for developers that asked for sensitive permission from users. “If your app requests the use of high-risk or sensitive permissions (e.g. SMS or Call Log), you may be required to complete the Permissions Declaration Form and receive approval from Google Play” explain Google in its Privacy policy section.
Moreover, along with the label update, Apple also releases iOS 14.3 to all its platforms. This will enable access to awaited ProRaw format, Apple Fitness + along with several new features.
