Apple needs to put in the work, or this program is Good Marketing Only.
Let me start by saying I think Apple’s privacy “nutrition” labels are a great idea. Giving users a simple shorthand to help them understand app data practices is a solid way to harness the power of consumer choice to illuminate user privacy preferences. Laws are always subject to lobbyist manipulation (California’s new privacy law comes quickly to mind), and seldom map to what users actually want. But if users can easily tell how data-intensive an app is they can make the valuable decision to download or not – or better still to choose an equal-but-data-lite competitor. Developers can compete on app quality AND data practices. Let the free market choose the winners!
Like many good ideas, however, unless you put the effort into the implementation you have nothing worth selling. Apple’s implementation (so far) seems to indicate they’re only half onboard with their program; allowing false information to be populated and letting bad actors game the system. While some devs are certainly just confused by weak guidance and a lack of diligent design (these labels seem nowhere near as tight as a true Apple product), the system as a whole is promoting far more than it currently delivers. And you only get one chance to make a first impression.
Congress seems to share my opinion, prompting a letter to Tim Cook highlighting just how unimpressed they are. Here’s the meat of their Dear-Tim note:
“Without meaningful, accurate information, Apple’s tool of illumination and transparency may become a source of consumer confusion and harm. False and misleading privacy labels can dupe privacy-conscious consumers into downloading data-intensive apps, ultimately eroding the credibility and integrity of the labels. A privacy label without credibility and integrity also may dull the competitive forces encouraging app developers to improve their data practices. A privacy label is no protection if it is false.”
Not good, coming from the folks looking to regulate you or break your company up.
We consistently hear from the developer community that they want clear app-store rules and useful guidance on how to implement policies. We also hear that privacy is important and that developers truly want to earn their user’s trust. Anything less simply begs consumers to abandon apps or lobby for a blanket ban on data as a useful tool for all of us.
Apple needs to get serious about this program, and put in the work to make it right or to abandon it and try again another day. It’s too complicated to follow, and so far is doing more harm than good. Until Apple can separate the good actors from the bad, they should acknowledge that GMO labels are doing nothing to improve user trust.
