Bad actors get bad reputations
central thesis
- Apple’s App Privacy Report lists all connections made by apps on iPhones and iPads.
- App developers can feel embarrassed to organize their own behavior.
- Your best bet is to delete the apps that are stealing your data.
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Apple’s latest privacy features show you exactly what data your apps collect about you.
iOS 15.2 provides the App Privacy Report, an interactive list of all internet connections made by each app on your device. And there are more. It also tells you which apps have accessed your personal data, such as photos, contacts, and microphone and camera. It’s searchable, easy to understand, and really terrible for less unscrupulous developers.
“Developers want iPhone users to forget to turn on App Privacy Reports in Settings. Otherwise, you will have to justify the requested access. Get ready, developer!” Pixel Privacy’s Consumer Privacy Champion Chris Hauk told Lifewire via email.
App Privacy Report
First, you need to enable App Privacy Reporting in your iPhone or iPad settings. This will detect all connections made by all apps on your device, including Apple’s default apps.
Check back in a few hours and you might be surprised at what you see. You can split the information into several useful shapes and roll the dice. You can search by app. You can also view a list of top access domains highlighting popular tracking services. Some of these are designed to collect app metrics so that developers can identify anonymous usage patterns and improve their apps, but most exist to collect, collect and sell data.
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“The purpose of invading users’ privacy is usually to sell this data for advertising revenue. Making apps more private can hurt the bottom line for app developers who can’t monetize their users’ personal data.” Paul BischoffComparitech’s head of data protection, Lifewire, announced via email.
Launching your app can help users organize their behavior, but on the other hand, would you like to keep using software from a developer who likes to invade your privacy?
It was on by default when Apple introduced a notification to notify you whenever an app accesses the clipboard, and suddenly hundreds of millions of iPhone users discovered how many apps were spying on copied data. This allowed us to quickly clean up malicious actors and developers who just designed our app incorrectly.
App privacy reports are not enabled by default and you won’t be able to see their data unless you search for it, but that doesn’t mean it’s useless.
How can we use this information?
The surest way to deal with a bad app is to delete it and then leave a descriptive review on the App Store or on Twitter. If you want to go further, you can report the perpetrator to the competent authorities.
“Usually a user should try to delete any app that accesses the camera, microphone, geolocation and photos without their consent,” security advisor Vikram Venkatasubramanian told Lifewire in an email.
As Venkatasubramanian said, “If the app is a US based company, it can ask that company to delete your information.” California and Vermont users may file complaints with the offices of state-owned enterprises given the protections provided by the CCPA.”
This can be overwhelming for many of us, but this new feature has another big advantage. The thing is that you can get a list of commonly used tracking domains. If you run a firewall app like Lockdown Privacy on your iOS device, you can get that domain and connect it to the app to block it forever later.
Apple continues to put pressure on malicious actors and gives us the tools to protect ourselves. Sometimes we have to try to use them, but for those of us who are sensitive to privacy, this is a big win.
“Privacy, security and trust are paramount today. Consumers win when businesses protect their data. [and] We have decided not to collect them,” Chris Pierson, former CISO and CEO of Dr. Blackcloak Cybersecurity Services, emailed Lifewire.
More information
Apple’s App Privacy Report Could Shame App Developers Into Being Better
Bad actors will get a bad name
Key Takeaways
Apple’s App Privacy Report lists all connections made by the apps on your iPhone and iPad.
App developers may be shamed into cleaning up their act.
The best option is to delete apps that steal your data.
Apple
Apple’s latest privacy feature shows exactly what data your apps collect about you.
iOS 15.2 brings the App Privacy Report, an interactive list of every internet connection made by every app on your device. And there’s more. It also tells you which apps have accessed your private data—photos, contacts, and even the microphone and camera. It’s browsable, easy to understand, and utterly terrifying for less scrupulous developers.
“Developers will likely hope that iPhone users will forget to turn on the App Privacy Report in Settings. Otherwise, they will have to justify the access permissions they ask for. Get ready to explain why you need access to my iPhone’s GPS radio to play a game, devs!” Chris Hauk, consumer privacy champion at Pixel Privacy, told Lifewire via email.
App Privacy Report
To begin, you have to enable the App Privacy Report in the iPhone or iPad’s settings, after which it will detect every connection made by every app on your device—including the stock Apple apps.
Check back in after a few hours, and you might be surprised by what you see. You can slice and dice the info into several useful forms; you can browse by app. You can even see a list of the most commonly accessed domains, which will reveal popular tracking services. Some of these are meant to collect app metrics for developers to spot anonymous usage patterns and improve the apps, but many are there just to strip-mine your data, collate it, and sell it.
Apple
“The purpose of invading users’ privacy is usually to sell that data for advertising revenue. Making apps more private can cut into app developers’ bottom line if they can’t monetize users’ personal data,” Paul Bischoff, privacy advocate with Comparitech, told Lifewire via email.
Calling out apps could help shame them into cleaning up their acts, but on the other hand, do you really want to keep using software from a developer that was happy to invade your privacy?
When Apple introduced a notification that told you every time an app accessed your clipboard, it was on by default, and suddenly hundreds of millions of iPhone users discovered how many apps sneak a peek at their copied data. This led to a swift cleanup from bad actors and developers who had just designed their apps poorly.
App Privacy Report isn’t on by default, nor will you see its data unless you look for it, but that doesn’t make it useless.
How Can You Use This Information?
The most obvious way to deal with a bad app is to delete it, then perhaps leave an expository review on the App Store or Twitter. If you want to go even further, you could report the perpetrators to the relevant authority.
“In general, users should look to delete any apps that access their camera, microphone, geolocation, and photos without their consent,” security consultant Vikram Venkatasubramanian told Lifewire via email.
“If the apps are from US-based companies,” Venkatasubramanian continued, “then they could make a request to the specific companies to delete their information. For users in California and Vermont, given the protections of CCPA, they may be able to lodge a complaint with their state AG’s office.”
That might be beyond the threshold of effort for many of us, but there’s one other great side-effect of this new feature: it gives you a list of commonly used tracking domains. If you run any firewall app on your iOS device, like Lockdown Privacy, then you can take these domains and plug them into the app, forever blocking them in the future.
Apple keeps piling the pressure onto bad actors, giving us the tools to protect ourselves. Sometimes, it’s up to us to make an effort to use them, but for the privacy-minded among us, this is a big win.
“Privacy, security, and trust are paramount these days. Consumers win when companies protect their data [and] choose not to collect it,” Dr. Chris Pierson, a former CISO and CEO of Blackcloak cybersecurity service, told Lifewire via email.
#Apples #App #Privacy #Report #Shame #App #Developers
Apple’s App Privacy Report Could Shame App Developers Into Being Better
Bad actors will get a bad name
Key Takeaways
Apple’s App Privacy Report lists all connections made by the apps on your iPhone and iPad.
App developers may be shamed into cleaning up their act.
The best option is to delete apps that steal your data.
Apple
Apple’s latest privacy feature shows exactly what data your apps collect about you.
iOS 15.2 brings the App Privacy Report, an interactive list of every internet connection made by every app on your device. And there’s more. It also tells you which apps have accessed your private data—photos, contacts, and even the microphone and camera. It’s browsable, easy to understand, and utterly terrifying for less scrupulous developers.
“Developers will likely hope that iPhone users will forget to turn on the App Privacy Report in Settings. Otherwise, they will have to justify the access permissions they ask for. Get ready to explain why you need access to my iPhone’s GPS radio to play a game, devs!” Chris Hauk, consumer privacy champion at Pixel Privacy, told Lifewire via email.
App Privacy Report
To begin, you have to enable the App Privacy Report in the iPhone or iPad’s settings, after which it will detect every connection made by every app on your device—including the stock Apple apps.
Check back in after a few hours, and you might be surprised by what you see. You can slice and dice the info into several useful forms; you can browse by app. You can even see a list of the most commonly accessed domains, which will reveal popular tracking services. Some of these are meant to collect app metrics for developers to spot anonymous usage patterns and improve the apps, but many are there just to strip-mine your data, collate it, and sell it.
Apple
“The purpose of invading users’ privacy is usually to sell that data for advertising revenue. Making apps more private can cut into app developers’ bottom line if they can’t monetize users’ personal data,” Paul Bischoff, privacy advocate with Comparitech, told Lifewire via email.
Calling out apps could help shame them into cleaning up their acts, but on the other hand, do you really want to keep using software from a developer that was happy to invade your privacy?
When Apple introduced a notification that told you every time an app accessed your clipboard, it was on by default, and suddenly hundreds of millions of iPhone users discovered how many apps sneak a peek at their copied data. This led to a swift cleanup from bad actors and developers who had just designed their apps poorly.
App Privacy Report isn’t on by default, nor will you see its data unless you look for it, but that doesn’t make it useless.
How Can You Use This Information?
The most obvious way to deal with a bad app is to delete it, then perhaps leave an expository review on the App Store or Twitter. If you want to go even further, you could report the perpetrators to the relevant authority.
“In general, users should look to delete any apps that access their camera, microphone, geolocation, and photos without their consent,” security consultant Vikram Venkatasubramanian told Lifewire via email.
“If the apps are from US-based companies,” Venkatasubramanian continued, “then they could make a request to the specific companies to delete their information. For users in California and Vermont, given the protections of CCPA, they may be able to lodge a complaint with their state AG’s office.”
That might be beyond the threshold of effort for many of us, but there’s one other great side-effect of this new feature: it gives you a list of commonly used tracking domains. If you run any firewall app on your iOS device, like Lockdown Privacy, then you can take these domains and plug them into the app, forever blocking them in the future.
Apple keeps piling the pressure onto bad actors, giving us the tools to protect ourselves. Sometimes, it’s up to us to make an effort to use them, but for the privacy-minded among us, this is a big win.
“Privacy, security, and trust are paramount these days. Consumers win when companies protect their data [and] choose not to collect it,” Dr. Chris Pierson, a former CISO and CEO of Blackcloak cybersecurity service, told Lifewire via email.
#Apples #App #Privacy #Report #Shame #App #Developers
Synthetic: Vik News
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