∞ Germany demands to know what data Apple collects

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Germany’s justice minister is saying Apple must make it clear what data it is collecting from its customers. The demand comes after Apple changed its policies to allow it to collect the data from users of its iPhone and other devices.

According to Der Spiegel, the minister’s criticism was aimed at changes Apple has made in its privacy policy whereby the company can collect data on the geographic location of the users of its products — albeit anonymously.

Germany says Apple must improve data transparency [Reuters]


  • kingkolk

    Is he serious. Who cares if some random guy in CA knows where I’m at?

  • http://mangochut.net mangochutney

    I’m from Germany and I’m ashamed by this stupid publicity stunt. All the minister did was use the word ‘Apple’ as real world link bait.
    Reading through her statement reveals that neither she or her staff read Apple’s new privacy policy carefully.
    She was just trying to jump onto the ‘more privacy for consumers’ bandwagon.

  • jr

    kingkolk, I’m not trying to hide anything, but I still care about who knows where I am.

    mangochutney, what’s so bad about wanting more privacy, eh?

    I think you two are just trying to protect your precious god, ‘Apple’.

    • http://mangochut.net mangochutney

      Ok, even though the last sentence was a bit troll-like, I’ll say this much:
      I don’t applaud the altered privacy policy, but it’s not worse than any other company’s privacy policy.

      I care for my privacy a lot, but I don’t care for major politicians using sensationalistic statement to gain press coverage. In this case she (the minister) didn’t do any research concerning how geolocation works on iDevices, meaning; the app always ask for permission to use/send your location.
      iOS4 has very finely tunable settings for allowing or disallowing apps to use this data.

  • Chanson de Roland

    The privacy policy that Apple added to its terms of services for the App Store appear to be nothing more than a prophylactic measure to prevent either Apple or its partners from being successfully sued by a customer, who has consented to providing location-based information.

    The problem arise because the new section of the privacy policy at issue isn’t read in pari materia with Section 3.3.9 of Apple’s SDK agreement for its iOS4 (Agreement). Section 3.3.9, which I won’t quote here, because of its length, ensures, inter alia, that no application can access or use location-based information and/or other private information without the user’s consent and provides other protections of a user’s privacy, which go well beyond the industry’s standard practice.

    Also, all iOS4 devices, such as the iPhone, iPodTouch, and the iPad permit a user to turn off location-based service either globally or by individual application. And the iPhone and, I think, all iOS devices have an indicator that shows when any app is using location-based services. Once again, this goes well beyond industry standards.

    The bottom line is that Apple really hasn’t made any change to the protection that it provides for users’ privacy. The change in its policy statement only has the effect of protecting it and/or its partners from a frivolous lawsuit from a user who has consented to providing his location-based information, and it does not allow Apple and/or its partner to collect any location-based information without the user’s express, opt-in consent, as required by Section 3.3.9.

    Both the Germany’s Justice Minister and, here, U.S. Reps. Markey and Barton need to consult with competent legal counsel to determine the joint effect of all of the Apple’s policies and the features of Apple’s iOS devices that protect a user’s private information. After that review by counsel, Germany’s Justice Minister and Reps. Markey and Barton will be advised that there is not only no violation of applicable law but that Apple’s privacy protections greatly exceed what generally available throughout the industry.

  • Perry Clease

    What data do the websites for the German Government collect? IP Addresses?