Apple Softens App Store Guidelines Related to Third-Party Ads in Kids Apps and 'Sign in With Apple'

[ipedro]

But the second you give it some personal information like a delivery address then it's all over anyway as far as being anonymous. I don't know any apps where I would personally use this feature - either I trust an app enough to have an account with them, or I don't use them at all.

1. I love using Instagram as a photographer. I don’t like that Facebook owns it and has every incentive to track me and sell my data to their advertisers all across the internet.

2. I like to comment on articles on websites like The Verge or 9to5Mac which require a Facebook account to sign up, but I don’t want those sites tracking me everywhere.

3. I keep an account with news sites like CNN to help sort news that I’ve already read and take advantage of other user features but I wouldn’t want the company using my reading habits to sell me stuff or prioritize what kind of news I’m shown on other sites, creating an echo chamber and sheltering me from other perspectives.

Sign In with Apple is going to their most powerful privacy feature yet. I can’t wait for it to start rolling out.

 

[dominiongamma]

1. I love using Instagram as a photographer. I don’t like that Facebook owns it and has every incentive to track me and sell my data to their advertisers all across the internet.

2. I like to comment on articles on websites like The Verge or 9to5Mac which require a Facebook account to sign up, but I don’t want those sites tracking me everywhere.

3. I keep an account with news sites like CNN to help sort news that I’ve already read and take advantage of other user features but I wouldn’t want the company using my reading habits to sell me stuff or prioritize what kind of news I’m shown on other sites, creating an echo chamber and sheltering me from other perspectives.

Sign In with Apple is going to their most powerful privacy feature yet. I can’t wait for it to start rolling out.

I’m concern developers won’t follow the rules and will refuse to update the app. I can see some developers leave the App Store over this. I hope I’m wrong.

 

[fwt]

Really disappointed Apple caved on this point:

“Sign in with Apple is not required if:- Your app exclusively uses your company's own account setup and sign-in systems.”

From what I've seen in all the presentations about it, AppleID has never been required for apps that implement 100% their own sign on if they don't offer any 3rd party sign on alternatives. If this was a rule, every app in the App Store that features login would need to integrate Apple ID.

 

[ipedro]

I’m concern developers won’t follow the rules and will refuse to update the app. I can see some developers leave the App Store over this. I hope I’m wrong.

That's good for the App Store. Culling lazy developers will improve the overall quality of the apps that stay.

There's no excuse to not drop in a little bit of code in an app to enable Sign In With Apple. If an app doesn't already have a login function, then the developer doesn't have to do anything. If they have Facebook sign in, then adding Apple's code is trivial.

 

[Krizoitz]

both of them have allowed you to opt out of their AI assistants tracking you

Siri wasn't tracking you, that was never a thing.
What you actually mean is humans listening to anonymized randomized audio recordings which are necessary to improve voice recognition. And you could always opt out by not using Siri. It was an explicit choice to use it or not during setup and you could always turn it off at any point.

Now, because of misleading/exagerated news stories Apple is going to allow you to still use Siri but opt out of participating in anonymized voice recordings. So you'll be contributing to nothing to make the service better but still getting all the same benefits as the people who do participate. In other words you'll be freeloading. No one who opts out of Siri recordings should ever complain about its quality ever again. So dumb.

 

[apolloa]

Siri wasn't tracking you, that was never a thing.
What you actually mean is humans listening to anonymized randomized audio recordings which are necessary to improve voice recognition. And you could always opt out by not using Siri. It was an explicit choice to use it or not during setup and you could always turn it off at any point.

Now, because of misleading/exagerated news stories Apple is going to allow you to still use Siri but opt out of participating in anonymized voice recordings. So you'll be contributing to nothing to make the service better but still getting all the same benefits as the people who do participate. In other words you'll be freeloading. No one who opts out of Siri recordings should ever complain about its quality ever again. So dumb.

Nothing has been mislead or exaggerated, both Google and Amazon tell you what it will do with your recordings at setup! Apple does not, it buried that information in vague text in the terms and conditions, in the typical Apple fashion. Don’t try to defend them here as they are pure hypocrites with their joke ‘privacy’ ad campaign.

That leads me onto the story as I don’t trust their advertising guidelines either, why do they need to allow more advertising or tracking for children? By law I think they should be banned from increasing it. Big companies more and more are allowing children to be subject to money making schemes like addictive games akin to gambling, and he new laws and government investigations around that. And they can tell a hell of a lot about you from analytical data, as reported in this age old article which gets truer by the day, so don’t go thinking your safe because they can’t ‘personally identify you’:

http://toucharcade.com/2015/09/16/we-own-you-confessions-of-a-free-to-play-producer/

So yes you can sign in with Apple, although going by it’s most recent history I’d be very wary about trusting it as working as described on the tin. But to off shoot that they will allow more advertising to children? I don’t see that as a win for the consumer.

 

[bb9]

Apple today updated its App Store Review Guidelines with changes to third-party advertising and analytics in kids apps, as well as additional criteria for when apps are required to use Sign in with Apple.

Kids apps

The guidelines now state that, in limited cases, third-party analytics may be permitted in kids apps provided that the services do not collect or transmit any identifiable information about children, such as their name, date of birth, email address, location, or unique device identifier.

Apple says third-party advertising may also be permitted in limited cases, provided that the services have publicly documented practices and policies for kids apps, including human review of ad creatives for age appropriateness.

Apple had previously implied that no third-party ads or analytics would be permitted in kids apps whatsoever, but several developers of kids apps expressed concerns that this would harm their business models, leading Apple to delay the requirements and make the changes announced today.

Moreover, apps in the App Store's Kids category or those that collect, transmit, or have the capability to share personal information from a minor must include a privacy policy and must comply with all applicable children's privacy statutes, such as the U.S.'s Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Newly submitted kids apps must follow these guidelines immediately, while existing apps will have until March 3, 2020 to be fully compliant, according to Apple.

"As we got closer to implementation we spent more time with developers, analytics companies and advertising companies," Apple's marketing and App Store chief Phil Schiller told TechCrunch. "Some of them are really forward thinking and have good ideas and are trying to be leaders in this space too."

'Sign in with Apple' criteria

Meanwhile, as previously announced, apps that exclusively use a third-party or social login service such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon, or WeChat to set up or authenticate a user's primary account within the app must also offer Sign in with Apple as an equivalent option.

However, Apple has now clarified that Sign in with Apple is not required if:Starting today, new apps submitted to the App Store must follow these guidelines for Sign in with Apple. Existing apps must follow them by April 2020.

Article Link: Apple Softens App Store Guidelines Related to Third-Party Ads in Kids Apps and 'Sign in With Apple'

I like those changes.