Devs required to update apps to return to store

May 9, 2018 08:25 GMT  ·  By

Apple has promised to increase focus on software reliability, security, and user privacy, and as part of this new commitment, the company has reportedly started banning apps from the App Store that share user data without consent with third parties.

While Cupertino hasn’t publicly announced that it’s cracking down on apps sending location details to other companies, there’s at least one report indicating that developers are being served with notices sent by email to inform that that their apps violated sections 5.1.1 “Data collection & storage” and 5.1.2 “Data use & sharing” of the App Store Review Guidelines.

“Legal – 5.1.1 and Legal 5.1.2: The app transmits user location data to third parties without explicit consent from the user and for unapproved purposes,” the cited sections read.

No word on how many apps got banned

Apple is also providing further guidance to developers in order to update their apps and have them re-published in the App Store. In all cases, the company wants devs to remove unauthorized location sharing features, like code, frameworks, and SDKs, and points them to more updates to comply with the guidelines.

Cupertino says developers must clearly explain how they use the collected data and ask for permission before sharing any information with third parties.

“You may not use or transmit someone’s personal data without first obtaining their permission and providing access to information about how and where the data will be used,” Apple explains. “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.”

It’s not known at this point how many apps are impacted by the company’s user privacy violation check, and as with everything Apple, no figures are expected to be published anytime soon.