Apple removes apps that share your location from the App Store

The Facebook scandal with Cambridge Analytica has been publicized. And now it seems to be having an effect on the modus operandi of other major companies. One of them, Apple.

Today we learned, as explained by 9to5mac, that the apple company is removing a series of applications from the storethat would not comply with the minimum rules of guarding the privacy of users.

What do we mean? It appears that Apple is removing from the App Store all apps that share users' location data with third parties without the explicit consent of those affected, clear.

Some developers have received a letter from Apple stating that their applications do not comply with Sections 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 of the rules of the App Store, the company's app store.

These sections discuss the obligation of applications not to transmit location data of users to third parties, without them first have given their explicit consent. At the same time, those applications that are sharing data for purposes not covered by these rules are banned.

Apple finally decided to start enforcing guidelines on selling location data

- Thomasbcn (@Thomasbcn) May 7, 2018

More tips for developers

Developers who have breached the conditions imposed by Apple in these rules will also have to carry out a series of actions.The most important, as the company has informed them in the letter, eliminate any code, framework or SDK used to collect location data and exchange it with third parties. It is a sine qua non condition so that these applications, if their owners so wish, can return to the App Store.

And while the fact that these steps are being taken in the wake of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal most likely comes to mind, it appears that Apple is speeding up these decisions ahead of that the law of General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union enters into force on May 25th.

Apple takes action on the matter

In recent weeks we have seen how some companies have taken action on the matter, following scandals such as Cambridge Analytica or MoviePass Twitter, without going any further, asked a good number of users to modify the passwords for access to the social network, due to a problem in storing them.

In the case of MoviePass, it was learned that the subscription service observed the driving of users when they went from home to the cinema The The company had to backtrack on the spot, quickly removing the feature that caused the app to track users' locations even when the app was not active.

The Apple company could be starting to do the same with all those applications that track user activity or their locations in one way or another .

For its part, Facebook, one of the worst stops in these privacy scandals, has reformulated the way in which users can configure how they share their photos and publications y In what way and which are the applications that collect personal data and even from your friends.

Be that as it may, and in the specific case of Apple, developers who want to return to the application store will be able to do so without problems. Before, of course, any functionality that has to do with location tracking must have been removed After the checks, and as long as everything is correct, the applications expelled may be reinstated in the App Store.