Last month, Apple introduced a new privacy section in the App Store to notify users of some of the data types that apps can collect and whether that data is associated with it or used to track it. Developers are required to provide this information to Apple when submitting new apps and app updates to the App Store since December 8, 2020.
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That is interesting Fast company noted that Google has yet to update any of its iPhone and iPad apps since Apple’s requirement went into effect, with apps like Gmail, Chrome and YouTube last updated on December 7, 2020 or earlier. As a result, all Google apps still say ‘No details provided’ under the new privacy section in the App Store, stating that ‘the developer must provide privacy data when they submit their next app update.’
In comparison, the report notes that Google updated several of its Android apps after December 8, including Google Maps on December 14, Google Duo on December 15, Gmail on December 16, and YouTube on December 21.
Google has yet to respond to the report, so the reason for the lack of recent iOS app updates hasn’t been confirmed, though Fast company assumes that Google may be trying to delay the disclosure of its privacy label information, especially after the negative attention Facebook received for its very long-standing privacy label.
Google will definitely have to update its iOS apps eventually, so it will be interesting to see what the privacy labels reveal about the company’s data collection practices.