The Outsourced DPO read an interesting story on the BBC yesterday about a new policy at Apple whereby from 14th December, developers must show what information they collect that is used to track users and what data is collected that directly relates to a user, including what data is collected from other apps and websites the user has visited. It’s a short article and worth a quick read. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55307293. What’s of most interest is that Apple says that they intend to carry out spot checks to determine that developers were being honest in what they declare. They are going to police the arrangement.
The new approach to app privacy is a step in the right direction as far as transparency is concerned but, according to the BBC, users will not be able to opt-out of the data uses declared – the only choice they have is whether or not to download an app. That is likely to be a difficult choice as most apps probably collect and use data from devices that they don’t really need to provide the core app functionality so really whilst this is a good exercise in transparency, it’s probably not going to be an effective way of giving users real choice over what data they permit apps to use.