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Four months after Apple first began requiring apps to add App Privacy labels to their App Store listings, Google has finally updated all of its most popular apps with the information, letting people know exactly what data Google is collecting.

Google-Apps-Privacy-Feature-1.jpg

Google began adding App Privacy labels to its apps in February after months of delaying. Gmail, for example, got App Privacy labels on February 22, and other apps have been slowly updated over time.

Google Maps was quietly updated with privacy information last week, and as noted by The 8-Bit, Google today updated its last main app with App Privacy details, adding the information to Google Photos.

As a consequence of taking so long to add App Privacy labels, many of Google's apps went months without an update. Apple began enforcing App Privacy labels on December 8, and any new app or app update submitted after that time had to include the information.

google-photos-maps-privacy-labels.jpg

Back in February, it had been two months since Gmail was updated, and the app started giving users a warning that it was out of date and should be updated, but there was, of course, no update available. Gmail was finally updated on March 1.

Though Google Photos and Google Maps now have App Privacy labels, the apps still have yet to be updated. It's been four months since Google Maps and Google Photos got bug fixes or new features, which is highly unusual as Google typically pushes regular updates.

It's not clear why Google delayed adding App Privacy labels to its apps for so long as it isn't exactly a surprise that the company is collecting quite a bit of data from users. Google Maps, for example, uses coarse location, search history, browsing history, identifiers, and usage data for third-party advertising purposes, with Google Search using much of the same information.

All of the data that Google is collecting is now listed in the App Store for each individual app for those who are interested.

Article Link: All of Google's Main Apps Now Feature Privacy Labels
 
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I am glad Google is now showing the Privacy info that they collect.
 
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I think the only Google app that I haven't gotten an update for yet is Assistant, and possibly Google Maps. All others have been updated at least twice since Christmas. The Assistant app isn't a critical since I have speakers with the assistant built in, but it would still be nice to see an update.
 
G fans & FB fans will still click through the wall of text to get to their cherished app/service. At this point I don't think those who use G or FB care about being data mined
 
  • Wow
Reactions: TakeshimaIslands
I only use the Youtube app... with all the data collection off in my Gmail settings (only thing that knows my gmail is AppleID). I hope I am safe.
 
FYI: The two main reasons of having the google apps on my phone are, for casting YouTube videos to cast enabled hardware, and for managing my smart home with google home, nest, etc. So, google apps / services are simply tools in a mixed toolbox for me.
 
Now that this info is out there, the outcry from the general public has been tremendous and I think we'll finally start to see some change.

**wakes up**
 
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