Looks like Apple has started bringing down the hammer on app developers after a series of unauthorised screen recordings on iPhones that came to light last week. The company from Cupertino is a taking a hardline approach to the situation; declare your screen recording code to users or face getting their apps taken off the App Store.
As a recap, it was recently discovered that several big name brands had been secretly recording the screens of many iPhone users. Without their permission. The list is extensive, and includes prominent brands such as Hotels.com, Expedia, and Singapore Airlines to name a few.
Some of the companies had apparently been collecting data through a screen capturing program provided by a data analytics firm known as Glassbox. Much of this user data is obviously private, containing sensitive details such as passport and credit card numbers, as well as a user’s known current address around the world.
This isn’t the only recent incident on privacy that Apple has had to deal with. Two weeks ago, Apple briefly shuttered Facebook’s internal iOS app and revoked its enterprise certificates after it was discovered that the social network was paying several iOS users a monthly sum of US$20 (~RM81). In order to install a “Research app” that essentially gave the company complete and total access to their mobile devices.
A week later, Google found itself under the spotlight when it was discovered that the search engine has supposedly done the same thing with its Screenwise Meter iOS app, but later admitted that the app “should never have operated under Apple’s developer enterprise program,” and later disabled the app and publicly apologised to Apple.
(Source: Ars Technica)
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