The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a letter to Apple this week [PDF] inquire about the accuracy of the App Privacy labels that Apple asked developers to start adding to apps in December.
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In the letter, the committee asks Apple for reports suggesting that some app privacy labels offer ‘misleading and false information’. The question was raised by a January story of The Washington Post which has found more than a dozen programs with inaccurate privacy labels.
Apple requires developers to provide information about all the data that an app collects, but developers themselves provide the privacy label details on an honor system, without Apple verifying it itself. Apple has said it regularly reviews the information provided and works with developers to correct inaccuracies, but it is impossible for the company to verify the privacy information of each app.
Application developers who are audited and found to not disclose accurate privacy information may reject future updates of the app, or in some situations, the applications may be removed from the App Store altogether if they are not matched.
Committee members Frank Pallone and Jan Schakowsky told Apple that a privacy label “is no protection if it is untrue”, in the letter urging Apple to improve the app privacy labels.
“According to recent reports, app privacy labels can be very misleading or blatantly fake. Using software that reports data sent to trackers, a reporter discovered that about one-third of the rated apps say they do not collect data. does not contain inaccurate labels.A privacy label is no protection if it is fake.We call on Apple to improve the validity of its App privacy labels to ensure that consumers provide meaningful information about their apps’ data practices and that consumers are not harmed by these potentially misleading practices. “
Apple has been asked to provide the following information about its App Privacy System:
- Details about the process by which Apple investigates the privacy information provided by app developers and how often audits are performed;
- How many of the apps audited since the implementation of the App Privacy Label were found to have provided inaccurate or misleading information;
- Or Apple ensures that labels of app privacy are corrected after the discovery of inaccuracies or misleading information; and
- Details regarding Apple’s application policies when an app does not provide accurate privacy information for the App Privacy Label.
The committee is asking Apple to send the requested information by February 23, so Apple will have two weeks to respond.
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