Apple adds new guidelines to stop developers from sharing user friend data

Apple is currently making a lot of changes to its developer guidelines to bring it up to speed with a rapidly changing landscape. Apple’s latest change sees restrictions on what developers can do with data accrued about the users’ friends.

These new changes can be found in the 5.1.2 Data Use and Sharing section of the Apple Developer Guidelines. The guidelines now explicitly state you must first obtain permission from an individual before using, transmitting, or sharing personal data. Apps must also not use information from Contacts, Photos, or other APIs to build a database in which to sell or distribute to third parties.

These changes come in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that not only used the information gathered from consenting individuals but data from all their friends too. This allowed them to build a comprehensive database without the permission of tens of millions of users.

The last thing Apple would want is for an app associated with their platform to be discovered harvesting millions of unknowing peoples’ personal data for sale. These changes make sure that can’t happen.

KitGuru Says: Any change that gives users more privacy is a good one, it’s great that Apple is being proactive with their approach. What do you make of the guideline changes?

Become a Patron!