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The kind of analytics that they are collecting about how an app is used is something that is supposed be done during the testing phase of the app development and with permission from the user, not the production version of the app and not without notification and an option to disable that feature.
If you push an app to the App Store, it should be a finished product, not something that you are still trying to figure out how it should be used. If that’s the case, you have a beta product on your hands and testers should be involved, not App Store customers. Just my opinion as a software developer.
 
The kind of analytics that they are collecting about how an app is used is something that is supposed be done during the testing phase of the app development and with permission from the user, not the production version of the app and not without notification and an option to disable that feature.
If you push an app to the App Store, it should be a finished product, not something that you are still trying to figure out how it should be used. If that’s the case, you have a beta product on your hands and testers should be involved, not App Store customers. Just my opinion as a software developer.

You clearly aren’t building enterprise software if you think a product is ever “finished”. All software is constant iteration and improvement and these tools help companies do just that. You never just ship it and it’s done. Unless you work somewhere where you only release value to your customers once a year or even less frequent. Where I work we release updates daily. Tools like Glassdoor are a very valuable part of making sure the changes we thought would be great actually are
 
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This is why I choose apple over google. Yeah apple May have let it slip past their review but at least they’re doing something about it. Meanwhile at google it’s BAU
 
To Glassbox,

With that updated response, I must say, so? Does it matter how you deal with that data? You should NOT have that data in the first place.
Doesn't change the fact that you are recording my screen without my consent.

*Yes you. You are the one providing that service and receiving that data.
 
Do we really all think Apple didn’t know about the services that company as big as Glassbox provided?

They must have been aware of the possibilities that Glassbox gave (something similar has been an option with Google Analytics for years), but have let it slide until they have been under heavy scrutiny, especially with the privacy issues they have been having recently.

Unfortunately, I think all of this is a "saving face" in the midst of all the other problems.

Whatever the case is, I’m not at all convinced that Apple has never heard (or saw in action) what Glassbox did with their clients
Glassbox offers ways to block user private information. It’s the failure of the app developer (in this case, Air Canada), to properly protect the user info.

You can think of Apple as bad as you want, and you are welcome to find a better alternative if a platform. Considering the state of zero ethics amongst the majority of Silicon Valley companies, I’ll take Apple’s action as a positive point.
 
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You clearly aren’t building enterprise software if you think a product is ever “finished”. All software is constant iteration and improvement and these tools help companies do just that. You never just ship it and it’s done. Unless you work somewhere where you only release value to your customers once a year or even less frequent. Where I work we release updates daily. Tools like Glassdoor are a very valuable part of making sure the changes we thought would be great actually are

It is definitely an enterprise product and of course it’s never finished, we deliver all of the time. There is a large annual rollout, but also many new features and updates along the way as well. That doesn’t mean that our production version spy’s on users and it should certainly never be done without their knowledge. We have separate non production environments for user testing and feedback. My point is that a tool like Glassdoor should be used in such a non production environment for feedback prior to the production version.
 
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More importantly, how did Apple miss this in their review? Why is it lately incumbent on journalists to police this kind of stuff?

This is going back a few years, but there was a scandal about CPU scores being rigged by some manufacturers around 10 years ago. The companies somehow learned what and how the processors were being tested, and rigged their chips to perform those tests faster. In regular day to day these computers were no better, and sometimes worse than their competitors but people look at test evaluations as if they are certified indications of performance.

To make it plain, it was NOT the testing companies that were cheating, it was the computer manufacturers. This had gone on for at least 2 or 3 years.

Why did it take so long to get caught? Since they knew what and how the tests were the cheat mods were designed to not give results that would indicate cheating.

I don’t know how Apple tests software. But much of what the software was doing are things you need to do to book hotels or flights or purchase items. It’s collecting that data and sending it back for analysis that breaks privacy. Since a lot of the companies in trouble used the same software from a single company to gather that data I wouldn’t be surprised if that company knew what was being tested and how to cheat.
 
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Careful, you’ll find yourself with bad boy emails about posting political comments in a non-political section.

I’m usually vague enough that it’s good for a small chuckle and a move on. If anybody tried to elaborate on it then yeah it would become an issue,
 
James Bond is not a ‘spy’. James Bond provides highly secure and confidential solutions to provide evidentially-based tasks that help deliver a quality information experience for his clients, and helps them better understand where they are delivering in the best way they can, and where the paradigm can be shifted to improve the experience of information-rich resources...
 
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I really like Apple's focus on privacy but I don't get why this is blowing up. It would be nice to have this disclosed I guess, though most people wouldn't understand it anyway. It doesn't record anything beyond their own app which is often used for product improvements and bug fixes. Also since these are web apps and not fully contained apps, the already know what you're searching for and looking at since the app needs to make API requests.
 
Any reason why Apple waits until the media makes a big deal about it before doing anything about it? Calculator bug, Group FaceTime bug, etc. Come on, Apple. Get it together. I'm starting to feel like everything they do is a PR stunt. Like if this information wasn't released to the public Apple would have just let the apps continue recording all our screens.
Consider that the tech has been around for years, and MANY apps have used it, there’s no way that Apple didn’t know about it before.
 
Consider that the tech has been around for years, and MANY apps have used it, there’s no way that Apple didn’t know about it before.
It's not about knowing about it, it's about disclosing it to the user. Apple is now requiring a red dot for recording and this to be clear in the privacy policy of the app. As long as it's clear, it's allowed.
 
I haven't thought about this a lot. But...every voice recorder app (including Apple's) puts a microphone symbol at the top of the screen when recording. Locations services does something similar. Ditto when using the phone app.

Have a feeling there are many more.
Yes, but I'm thinking more in the line of the apps that were banned - something that we know is collecting user data for UI purposes. Their rule about logging is so broad, it would seem many apps would fall under this.
 
I do not hold Glassbox at fault, entirely. But they should adhere to the rules of the platforms where they operate. For example, if the Terms of the App Store dictate that any app doing screen recording should provide a visual cue, then Glassbox should not fully activate a user's account until they have verified that this visual cue is in place. For example, they can review a developer's app within a week of it going live on the store, and that should be one of the requirements to use Glassbox in the first place.

The developers that violated App Store rules are guilty, but Glassbox should participate in the verification process, to a degree. Many industries operate this way, particularly banks and the money transfer industry... ensuring that their products are not being used in a malicious and unintended way. Glassbox should be no different.
 
AAPL should make it Crystal Clear which Apps Collect NO User Data, & which Apps do.

Hey Cook / Schiller, it's NOT Rocket Science, make App Devs specify it when submitting an app / update.

I.e., make App Devs indicate:

"Collects NO User Data" OR "Collects User Data" ...

& make that prominent in the App Store !!!

NOT Rocket Science, this should have been implemented ten years ago !

And App Devs in violation of their "indication" should be punished, BIG time !

If AAPL had real competition "from another U.S. company," the BS would never been allowed to propagate for such a long time ! ... competition would have cleaned things up fast ! ... and I do NOT mean from an Ad-based company like Google or Facebook ... another who would try to protect Users Privacy.
 
To Glassbox,

With that updated response, I must say, so? Does it matter how you deal with that data? You should NOT have that data in the first place.
Doesn't change the fact that you are recording my screen without my consent.

*Yes you. You are the one providing that service and receiving that data.

You misunderstand. The account holders that signed up to Glassbox receive the data. Glassbox didn't approach app developers and say "hey, can we install our tech into your app?"... instead the developers went to Glassbox needing their solution. Big difference.
 
Good for Apple. Really have to appreciate their stance on privacy.
Why wasn’t this caught in the review process ?
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Do you still believe that reviews can detect any malicious apps?
Apparently this wasn’t even hidden but it used a publicly available api and service. So yes this should have been caught if it was relatively easily discovered by a journalist..
 
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Why wasn't this discovered during the review process?
I’m sure it has nothing to do with keeping tabs on 2 million Apps. It’s only natural for “exploits” and violations to be caught by the many millions of users, versus 20,000 US employees (not counting the 27,000 at stores) Those 20,000 Apple employees aren’t all parsing code. It’s a monumental task that ultimately has to be “crowd sourced” to the user.
 
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To Glassbox,

With that updated response, I must say, so? Does it matter how you deal with that data? You should NOT have that data in the first place.
Doesn't change the fact that you are recording my screen without my consent.

*Yes you. You are the one providing that service and receiving that data.
Are you saying that the apps should not be aware of user actions? Just ignore the user, right? I do not understand what the fuss is about. Are you concerned someone will know that you pressed a button in some app? Sounds like Apple is just trying to look holier than pope.
 
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AAPL should make it Crystal Clear which Apps Collect NO User Data, & which Apps do.

Hey Cook / Schiller, it's NOT Rocket Science, make App Devs specify it when submitting an app / update.

I.e., make App Devs indicate:

"Collects NO User Data" OR "Collects User Data" ...

& make that prominent in the App Store !!!

NOT Rocket Science, this should have been implemented ten years ago !

And App Devs in violation of their "indication" should be punished, BIG time !

If AAPL had real competition "from another U.S. company," the BS would never been allowed to propagate for such a long time ! ... competition would have cleaned things up fast ! ... and I do NOT mean from an Ad-based company like Google or Facebook ... another who would try to protect Users Privacy.
Nice in theory, but in practice that's not how it works. The apps do go through a scrubbing process, but it's up to the app developer to be upfront about the way customer data is used once it's harvested from the phone.

And as far as competition, it should be easy to form a startup and disrupt the entire industry. Seed money is plentiful and there is no shortage of talent to take advantage of that seed money.
 
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