Apple starts removing apps that share your location with third parties. A security and privacy breach through an app is a common thing nowadays. Different apps that use your location, shares it to third party without your consent. In order to give lesson to those apps, Apple has reportedly started to remove those apps from App store that share users’ location to third parties without their clear permission.
Most of the times, while installing an app you also need to give access it to your current location. However, it has been found that a number of app shares that particulars with third party without consent of user.
Apple has already booted lots of offending apps from the App Store and has informed developers through email that their app is not in compliance with sections 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 of the App Store Review Guidelines, which narrate to transmitting user location data. 9to5 mac reported.
The email which sent to the developers reads,
“We are writing to let you know about new information regarding your app, upon re-evaluation, we found that your app is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines. Specifically, we found: The App transmits user location data to third parties without explicit content from the user and for unapproved purposes.”
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“For this reason, your app will be removed from sale on the App Store at this time. To return your app for sale on the App Store, remove any code, frameworks, or SDKs that fall in line with the functionality described above and resubmit your app for review.” It added.
According to 9to5 Mac‘s reports, Apple took this step just after weeks the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law takes effect on May 25th.
Even though it’s undecided whether Apple is cracking down on privacy-unaware apps to act in accordance with GDPR, the firm is requesting that apart from asking users for permission, developers also need to give details what the data is used for and how it is shared.
On the other hand, Apple’s guidelines also declared that the firm cracking down on cases where the data is not used for purposes related to improving the user experience or perking up the performance.
Apple clearly states that,
“Data collected from apps may not be used or shared with third parties for purposes unrelated to improving the user experience or software/hardware performance connected to the app’s functionality”
In the meantime, Apple is also reportedly launching a feature in iOS 11.4 named ‘USB Restricted Mode’ that will make it even harder for law enforcement to dig out data from stolen or seized iPhones.
