7 ms·

Google hasn’t updated its iOS apps in weeks to avoid providing privacy details

49 points by skarz 6y ago

zepto 6y ago
I wonder what they’d be embarrassed about? Facebook has a pretty long list and it hasn’t stopped them.
- ocdtrekkie 6y ago
  My guess: In addition to the general notion that Google relies on their largely good public opinion that they are good at privacy and safety, I'm willing to bet Google may be very uncomfortable admitting their data usage on legally-sensitive products like Google Classroom, which include usage by users under 13. Facebook is, at the end of the day, a single social network app. Google operates a lot of platforms which are fundamental to people of all ages and for various businesses who all may have legal concerns with their data abuses if they were aware of their full extent.
  - srtjstjsj 6y ago
    That's not a reason for the company to stop releasing new versions of their apps forever. If a company is willing to break the law and its contracts (which I severely doubt is happening) I don't think Apple's privacy label is going to scare them.
  - nexuist 6y ago
    There is no way Google is violating COPPA. It may be collecting a lot of data from students, but I doubt they are actively violating the law (or that their legal department would let them do so at the risk of losing almost all of their cloud and educational business).
    - ocdtrekkie 6y ago
      The attorney general of New Mexico believes otherwise: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/20/21145698/google-student-privacy-lawsuit-education-schools-chromebooks-new-mexico-balderas https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/20/21145698/google-student-p... (Actually two separate ongoing cases are discussed here.) Here's another suit from Illinois, both regarding COPPA and the Illinois BIPA: https://www.cnet.com/news/two-children-sue-google-for-allegedly-collecting-students-biometric-data/ https://www.cnet.com/news/two-children-sue-google-for-allege... There's more, mind you, but suffice to say, every school who is using the Classroom platform is going to be dealing with a lot of angry parents soon.
- srtjstjsj 6y ago
  "weeks" means "since the winter solstice when everyone goes on vacation and no one deploys new releases.
  - zepto 6y ago
    The article says they have deployed several Android releases during this time. Having said that, I agree that the article may be bullshit, hence my question.
  - gallego2007 6y ago
    I had a similar thought, but December 7th was indeed the last date that new versions were pushed to the App Store for Chat, Drive, Keep, Meet, etc.
abestic9 6y ago
I don’t see any evidence for the headline’s claim, other than, “they have been updating the same apps on Android since then.” For all we know the update is under review, or there simply isn’t one - some Gmail iOS app updates have been a month apart.
mchusma 6y ago
These apple privacy questions are confusing and highly legally relevant. We found it very hard to accurately answer the questions for a SAAS company that collects data in an obvious way to provide service. It should not be a surprise to anyone that companies are taking some time to answer, and also see if Apple makes any relevant changes post launch, and also to let customers get used to seeing these notices in other apps.
- tdrp 6y ago
  As a B2C app, we're also really confused by a bunch of them and are waiting to see if they will clarify or refactor it in a better way. A lot of our entry fields fall under the "if you manually enter it we will use it to refine the results". Sure, you can put your age, or upload your picture to your profile if you want to. But you obviously don't have to. But it's not clear if that is enough to pass the "optional disclosure" bar that they have which specifies: "Collection of the data occurs only in infrequent cases that are not part of your app’s primary functionality, and which are optional for the user." What is infrequent here, or how far are these features from the app's "primary functionality". If we don't meet the optional disclosure bar it makes it sound like we're forcing users to give us all kinds of data. They also don't seem to obviously differentiate between data you collect for functionality and data that is used for advertising/third parties unless you click through to the details.
seastonATccs 6y ago
Lawyers lots and lots of lawyers.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
vaxman 6y ago
How do we downvote for posting a "9to5mac" article? What's next, AppleInsideher and MacTumors? Some people go to school and learn things so they can tell the science from the click-selling hype of entitled enthusiasts.
- vaxman 6y ago
  Looks like lots of lightweight blog readers have butthurt. Do not care about downvotes. 10 years from now, it is Ycombinator that is on it’s back, not me. After over 4 decades in biz (and not eligible for IHop senior menu yet), ask me how I know (no don’t, that’s called a rhetorical question, seriously, stay in school or at least close to going back).

49 points by skarz 6y ago

zepto 6y ago

I wonder what they’d be embarrassed about? Facebook has a pretty long list and it hasn’t stopped them.

ocdtrekkie 6y ago
My guess: In addition to the general notion that Google relies on their largely good public opinion that they are good at privacy and safety, I'm willing to bet Google may be very uncomfortable admitting their data usage on legally-sensitive products like Google Classroom, which include usage by users under 13. Facebook is, at the end of the day, a single social network app. Google operates a lot of platforms which are fundamental to people of all ages and for various businesses who all may have legal concerns with their data abuses if they were aware of their full extent.
- srtjstjsj 6y ago
  That's not a reason for the company to stop releasing new versions of their apps forever. If a company is willing to break the law and its contracts (which I severely doubt is happening) I don't think Apple's privacy label is going to scare them.
- nexuist 6y ago
  There is no way Google is violating COPPA. It may be collecting a lot of data from students, but I doubt they are actively violating the law (or that their legal department would let them do so at the risk of losing almost all of their cloud and educational business).
  - ocdtrekkie 6y ago
    The attorney general of New Mexico believes otherwise: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/20/21145698/google-student-privacy-lawsuit-education-schools-chromebooks-new-mexico-balderas https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/20/21145698/google-student-p... (Actually two separate ongoing cases are discussed here.) Here's another suit from Illinois, both regarding COPPA and the Illinois BIPA: https://www.cnet.com/news/two-children-sue-google-for-allegedly-collecting-students-biometric-data/ https://www.cnet.com/news/two-children-sue-google-for-allege... There's more, mind you, but suffice to say, every school who is using the Classroom platform is going to be dealing with a lot of angry parents soon.
srtjstjsj 6y ago
"weeks" means "since the winter solstice when everyone goes on vacation and no one deploys new releases.
- zepto 6y ago
  The article says they have deployed several Android releases during this time. Having said that, I agree that the article may be bullshit, hence my question.
- gallego2007 6y ago
  I had a similar thought, but December 7th was indeed the last date that new versions were pushed to the App Store for Chat, Drive, Keep, Meet, etc.

abestic9 6y ago

I don’t see any evidence for the headline’s claim, other than, “they have been updating the same apps on Android since then.” For all we know the update is under review, or there simply isn’t one - some Gmail iOS app updates have been a month apart.

mchusma 6y ago

These apple privacy questions are confusing and highly legally relevant. We found it very hard to accurately answer the questions for a SAAS company that collects data in an obvious way to provide service. It should not be a surprise to anyone that companies are taking some time to answer, and also see if Apple makes any relevant changes post launch, and also to let customers get used to seeing these notices in other apps.

tdrp 6y ago
As a B2C app, we're also really confused by a bunch of them and are waiting to see if they will clarify or refactor it in a better way. A lot of our entry fields fall under the "if you manually enter it we will use it to refine the results". Sure, you can put your age, or upload your picture to your profile if you want to. But you obviously don't have to. But it's not clear if that is enough to pass the "optional disclosure" bar that they have which specifies: "Collection of the data occurs only in infrequent cases that are not part of your app’s primary functionality, and which are optional for the user." What is infrequent here, or how far are these features from the app's "primary functionality". If we don't meet the optional disclosure bar it makes it sound like we're forcing users to give us all kinds of data. They also don't seem to obviously differentiate between data you collect for functionality and data that is used for advertising/third parties unless you click through to the details.

seastonATccs 6y ago

Lawyers lots and lots of lawyers.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

vaxman 6y ago

How do we downvote for posting a "9to5mac" article? What's next, AppleInsideher and MacTumors? Some people go to school and learn things so they can tell the science from the click-selling hype of entitled enthusiasts.

vaxman 6y ago
Looks like lots of lightweight blog readers have butthurt. Do not care about downvotes. 10 years from now, it is Ycombinator that is on it’s back, not me. After over 4 decades in biz (and not eligible for IHop senior menu yet), ask me how I know (no don’t, that’s called a rhetorical question, seriously, stay in school or at least close to going back).