Apple said it now needs a judge's order to turn over information about its customers' push notifications to law enforcement, bringing the iPhone maker's policies in line with rival Google and raising the hurdles officials must pass to obtain app data about users.
The new policy has not been officially announced, but it appeared in Apple's public enforcement guidance sometime in the past few days. Prior to this, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden (Ron Wyden) revealed that U.S. officials are requesting such data from Apple and Google (the company owned by Alphabet that develops the Android mobile operating system).
Apps of all kinds rely on push notifications to alert smartphone users of incoming messages, breaking news, and other updates. Users will hear a "ding" or see a visual indication when they receive an email or when their sports team wins a game. But users often don't realize that almost all of these notifications are sent through Google and Apple's servers.
In a letter first disclosed by Reuters last week, Wyden said the practice gives the companies unique insight into the traffic flowing from these apps to users, putting them "in a unique position for governments to monitor how users use specific apps."
Both Apple and Google have acknowledged receiving such requests. Apple added a paragraph to its guidance saying such data could be obtained "through a subpoena or additional legal process." This passage has now been updated to mention the stricter warrant requirements.
Wyden said in a statement that Apple "is right to join Google in requiring a court order to hand over data related to push notifications."
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