Last month, Apple introduced a new privacy section in the App Store to inform users about the types of data that apps can collect, and whether the data is linked to it or used to track it. Developers have been expected to provide this information to Apple when they submit new apps and updates to the App Store since December 8, 2020.
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Interestingly, Fast company noted that Google has yet to update any of its iPhone and iPad apps since Apple’s requirement went into effect, and that apps like Gmail, Chrome, and YouTube were last updated on December 7, 2020 or earlier. As a result, all Google apps still say ‘No details provided’ under the new privacy section of the App Store, with the notice that ‘the developer is expected to provide privacy details when submitting their next app update.’
By comparison, the report points out that Google updated several of its Android apps to December 8, including Google Maps on December 14, Google Duo on December 15, Gmail on December 16, and YouTube on December 21.
Google has not yet commented on the report, and the reason for the lack of recent iOS updates has not been confirmed Fast company makes the reasonable assumption that Google may be trying to delay the disclosure of its privacy information, especially after the negative attention Facebook has received about its very long privacy label.
Google will surely eventually need to update its iOS apps, so it’s going to be interesting to see what the privacy labels reveal about the company’s data collection practices.