There has been a lot of attention in the media lately with respect to the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica issue and its fall-out (including today’s coverage of the announcement that Facebook suspended almost 200 apps pending a more complete investigation in whether any user data was misused). As part of that discussion, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has been one of many voices criticizing Facebook’s practices. It is interesting then to note then that Apple is quietly beginning to enforce long-standing and long-ignored rules in the Apple iOS developer’s agreement and App Store Review Guidelines that, except for two limited exceptions, precluded an app publisher from sharing information collected from users on their phones with third parties. According to a recent article in 9to5mac.com, Apple is now removing those apps from the app store that are sharing data in violation of these restrictions.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out and whether this development captures the media’s attention the way the Facebook episode did. This latest episode highlights that instances of consumer data accessed by third parties in the mobile context is an issue that may be broader than first thought.