In a move towards ensuring user data privacy, Apple Inc. AAPL has introduced a policy that necessitates a court order to reveal specifics of customers’ push notifications.
What Happened: Apple implemented this policy change by updating its guidance for law enforcement, reported Reuters. With the revised guidelines, search warrants and court orders are mandatory for revealing details like the Apple ID linked to an Apple Push Notification Service token.
The policy alteration comes after revelations that both Apple and Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Google had been surrendering notification data to governments.
These notifications can include sensitive information, encompassing metadata outlining which app received a notification and when, as well as the smartphone and associated Apple or Google account intended for the notification delivery.
See Also: Grab Apple’s Latest iPhone SE 3 For Free This Holiday Season: Here’s How
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) highlighted this concern in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asserting that his office was examining whether foreign governments had coerced Apple and Google into disclosing personal data from smartphone push notifications.
While confirming this practice, Apple explained that the federal government had previously “prohibited” it from sharing these requests. In response, Apple is enhancing its transparency reporting to include these types of requests.
Google already had a comparable policy in effect. Wyden lauded Apple for “doing the right thing by matching Google and requiring a court order to hand over push notification-related data.”
Why It Matters: The policy shift by Apple is a response to concerns over governments exploiting smartphone notification data for user surveillance.
The tech giant updated its Legal Process Guidelines to include data from push notifications following law enforcement agencies' requests. The guidelines now feature a section titled “AA Apple Push Notification Service APNs” which elaborates on Apple’s legal obligation to provide Apple ID information associated with its notification service upon receiving a legal order.
Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
Read Next: OpenAI’s Sam Altman’s Salary In 2022 Was Less Than That Of A System Administrator
Photo via Shutterstock
Engineered by Benzinga Neuro, Edited by Rounak Jain
The GPT-4-based Benzinga Neuro content generation system exploits the extensive Benzinga Ecosystem, including native data, APIs, and more to create comprehensive and timely stories for you. Learn more.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
