Mac FORMAT INVESTIGATES
Apple’s passion for privacy
We explore how recent privacy updates to the App Store are part of a long-term commitment that is fundamental to the company
WRITTEN BY CHARLOTTE HENRY
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Apple, you may have noticed, cares about your privacy. This fact has got plenty of attention in recent times, not least because the company has brought it up at almost every possible opportunity. In reality though, it’s always been one of its key principles. Speaking at a conference in 2010, Steve Jobs declared, “we take privacy extremely seriously,” giving the example of Apple’s concerns about location tracking, and the potential stalking risk that could pose. To counter this, Apple forced apps to put up an alert to let users know what was happening.
In the more than a decade that has passed since, Apple has continued to make significant privacy updates and interventions. Not surprisingly, many of these centre around apps and the App Store. Two major changes over the last year really caught people’s attention – privacy ‘nutrition labels’ for apps and
App Tracking Transparency. The latter is more significant, and more controversial, so let’s start there…