Since the iCloud hacking attempts, Apple has taken a firmer stance on privacy and how it safeguards user information and data. With iOS 8, this is becoming more important as Apple is allowing third-party apps to tap into HomeKit for a centralized home automation hub, HealthKit for health and fitness tracking, Apple Pay for payments, and keyboard extensions. As such, Apple is requiring third-party developers to appropriately disclose privacy policies in the iTunes App Store when they list their apps and as required by law.
In its developer portal Friday, Apple told developers:
To ensure that customers understand how their data will be used, you must provide a link in the Privacy Policy URL field in iTunes if a privacy policy is required by law in your country or if your app does any of the following:
- Accesses user or device data
- Offers an account registration process
- Accesses a user's existing account
- Uses the HomeKit Framework or HealthKit Framework
- Integrates Apple Pay
- Includes keyboard extensions
- Contains auto-renewable subscriptions or free subscriptions
- Appears in the Kids Category
What do you think of Apple being more transparent with privacy?
Source: Apple
Reader comments
Apple's privacy push requires developers to disclose policies
Apple is not being more transparent -- Apple is simply requiring developers to paste into iTunes a URL that by law most of them already have, and forcing developers that do not have one to create one if they want to access certain APIs.
Requiring such policies of developers that access user data is not a bad thing, though requiring it of "Another Monster at the End of This Book", or, say, some indie checkers game that does not collect data seems an unnecessary restriction.
I don't think an app that does not collect date would be subject to this requirement, as it seems to indicate.
Apple states that apps that collect data *or that will be placed in the kids section* will be subject to this requirement, so yes, Sesame Street books or indie games and educational titles would have to comply, even if they collect no data.
Hey thanks for the clarification.