Last month, Apple introduced a new privacy section in the App Store to inform users about some types of data that apps can collect and whether that data is related to it or used to track it. Developers have been required to provide Apple with this information when they submit new apps and app updates to the App Store starting December 8, 2020.
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Interestingly, Fast company I noticed that Google hasn’t updated any of its iPhone and iPad apps yet since Apple came into force, with apps like Gmail, Chrome and YouTube last updated on December 7, 2020 or earlier. Therefore, all Google apps still say “No details provided” in the new privacy section of the App Store, with a notice that “the developer will be required to provide privacy details when sending the next application update.”
By 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 hasn’t commented on the report yet, so the reason for the lack of recent iOS app updates is unconfirmed, but Fast company makes a reasonable assumption that Google may attempt to delay the disclosure of its privacy label information, especially in light of the negative attention that Facebook has received to its very long 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.