Apple began to remove App Store applications that violate company policies by sharing location data with third parties without explicit consent, reports 9to5Mac . Infractions are related to sections 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 of the App Store Guidelines of the company, which state that applications should not transmit "user's location data to third parties without the explicit consent of the user [or] for unapproved purposes ". Developers who have violated company guidelines have received notices from Apple, informing them that their applications are not in compliance "after re-evaluation." 9to5Mac notes that affected applications have not provided enough clear information to users about what happens to their data after it is collected.
The repression of Apple seems to be related to the General Regulation of Data Protection, which enters into force on May 25 in Europe. Under the new rules, technology companies will need to obtain the explicit and informed consent of a person from whom they are collecting personal data. That means that applications may need to request consent for their data more frequently, or highlight how they are using their data more clearly.
In the notices sent to the affected developers, Apple says that those who want to reinstall their application should remove any code, frames or SDK that relate to the location shared with third parties, and resubmit the application for a review. Once approved, the application will be republished in the App Store. Apple's guidelines also state that "the data collected from applications may not be used or shared with third parties for purposes unrelated to the improvement of the user experience or the performance of the software / hardware connected to the functionality of the application."
It is unclear how many developers or applications are affected by the recent crackdown. We have contacted Apple for more comments and will update this publication if we receive a response.
