- #Apple serial number mystery finally by update
- #Apple serial number mystery finally by full
- #Apple serial number mystery finally by download
But apps that collected a lot of data ended up with very long lists that people found to be less informative. When apps only collected a few types of data, that appears to work pretty well on the labels. Data brokers want to collect as much information about you as possible (even data you didn’t even know it was possible to collect) without you realizing they’re doing it.Īpple’s labels have to strike a balance between giving the general user enough information to understand what an app is doing with their data, but not so much that the labels become as dense and complex as the privacy policies they’re supposed to summarize.
![apple serial number mystery finally by apple serial number mystery finally by](https://www.silverdaggertours.com/uploads/8/2/5/5/82557464/thehensleymansion-about-the-author_orig.png)
The labels are meant to be as easy to understand and as user-friendly as possible, but the app data collection industry is complicated and secretive. Even the simplest presentations can get complicated “I fear the average consumer will not have any incentive to scroll down far enough to actually use them, given that one is primarily just interested in downloading the app quickly - especially if it’s free,” he said. Reza Shamshad, a student from New Jersey, did know that the labels existed (he’s been waiting to check them out since they were first announced last June) and says he likes them, except for their placement. If it’s an app I really want, I don’t read all of the details or investigate further - which I’m now realizing I should.”
#Apple serial number mystery finally by download
“I have never once scrolled down further than that download button. “I think that they make it so easy to download that you don’t scroll down to read all of the fine print,” Tyana Soto, a packaging designer in New York, said. If you’re just updating an app that you’ve already downloaded to your device, you probably won’t even go to that app’s page to see the label.
#Apple serial number mystery finally by full
Then you have to tap “see details” to get the full label. The labels show up on the app’s page in the App Store, and you have to scroll down past several sections - past What’s New, Preview, and Ratings & Reviews - to get to them. Many of the people I spoke with didn’t even know the privacy labels existed, which is a problem for a feature that’s meant to provide information. The labels only work if people know they’re there Here’s what I found - and where there’s room for improvement. So that’s what I asked 12 (relatively normal) people: friends, family, and Vox readers.
![apple serial number mystery finally by apple serial number mystery finally by](https://reverse.put.as/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/remove_pwd_from_scbo.png)
Did they understand them? Did they learn anything from them? Did they change their behavior in any way? Did they even know the labels existed at all? I wanted to know what normal people, who don’t spend their day thinking about Facebook Pixels and the fallacy of de-identified data, thought of the labels. Of course, those reviews have come from the perspective of tech journalists, who know more about data privacy and data collection than the average person. The labels gave him a sense of how much data an app was collecting about him, but not what that data was being used for.
![apple serial number mystery finally by apple serial number mystery finally by](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1183581518i/1437288._UY200_.jpg)
Chen thought the labels were informative, up to a point. The Washington Post’s Geoffrey Fowler found some apps were not being truthful about their privacy policies in their labels, and that could create a false sense of security for consumers. “It’s good for consumers to be able to access that information.”īut in practice, some reviews have said, the labels need a little work. “Any additional transparency that companies and especially platforms like Apple can provide, in terms of how apps and companies are collecting and using personal data - that’s good,” John Davisson, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told Recode. That could be useful information, if done right.
#Apple serial number mystery finally by update
But that update only applies to tracking users across apps the labels give users more information about the data being tracked as they use the app themselves. In early spring, Apple will release iOS 14.5, which will force apps to get user permission to track users across different apps for ad targeting, a move that Facebook has vocally opposed - and its exceedingly long labels may be a good hint as to why. The labels are just one of Apple’s new policies to give users more privacy at the possible expense of the app economy, which largely relies on collecting and selling furtively acquired user data. Privacy advocates were generally pleased to see these easy-to-read versions of app privacy policies educating users about the secretive inner workings of their apps is almost always a positive development. Apple’s privacy “ nutrition labels” have been in the App Store for just over two months now.