Earlier today, Fast company shared an article noting that Google has yet to update its iPhone and iPad apps to bring them in line with the new App Store requirement for privacy labels. Fast company speculated that Google may be trying to delay the disclosure of its privacy label data, but that turns out not to be the case.
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According to a report by TechCrunch, Google is not taking a stand against Apple’s privacy labels and even plans to add the privacy data to the iOS app catalog this week or next week.
Apple has implemented app privacy information in iOS 14.3, after promising the feature when iOS 14 was first announced. App privacy labels provide a way for customers to control what information an app collects about them before choosing to install it.
Apple requires all apps to self-report privacy information in the App Store, and developers must identify all data collection and use cases. Labels are divided into categories, including data used to track you, data associated with you, and data not associated with you, indicating that they are anonymized.
Some negativity has been associated with app privacy, as Facebook got sued for its lengthy label due to the amount of data it collects, and it’s very possible Google will have similar privacy labels.
As of December 8, all app updates submitted must include the privacy label information, and most Google apps designed for iOS devices have not seen any updates since December 7. It’s not clear why Google delayed updating its iOS apps after updating Android apps, but it could be due to the holiday season. Google is implementing a code freeze from late December to early January, which is TechCrunch suggests that could be the reason behind the lack of iOS updates.