Tech giant Apple Inc. AAPL has updated its Legal Process Guidelines to incorporate data from push notifications. This change comes in response to law enforcement agencies’ requests and was made public on Wednesday.
What Happened: This change by Apple was catalyzed by revelations that governments are exploiting smartphone notification data for user surveillance.
The guidelines now feature a section titled “AA. Apple Push Notification Service (APNs)”, which details how Apple is legally obligated to provide Apple ID information associated with its notification service upon receiving a legal order.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) exposed this fresh privacy concern in a letter to the Justice Department, indicating that both Apple and Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Google have received such requests from domestic and overseas governments. Before this, these governments had prohibited the disclosure of such information.
See Also: This Is The Must-Have Trait If You Want To Join Apple, According To CEO Tim Cook
As per a Reuters source, the data sought by these agencies was used to link anonymous messaging app users to specific Apple or Google accounts. The Washington Post discovered multiple search warrant applications and court documents relating to these requests, some linked to the investigation into the U.S. Capitol riots of January 6, 2021.
Why It Matters: This development is a follow-up to concerns raised by Senator Ron Wyden regarding the potential role of Apple and Google in aiding global surveillance. Wyden’s letter to the Department of Justice brought to light that unidentified governments had approached both tech giants, seeking data from push notifications.
This revelation exposed a new method of smartphone tracking by governments, raising alarming questions about user privacy and the role of tech companies in inadvertently facilitating surveillance. The recent changes in Apple’s guidelines reflect the company’s response to these concerns and its commitment to legal compliance.
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