Apple is a company that has long boasted about their commitment to privacy. However, it seems that the company needs to take a closer look at some of the apps that they are allowing onto its App Store, especially following a report from Motherboard in which it revealed that several popular iOS and Mac email apps have been found to be scrapping data and selling them.
In fact, one of those apps is the popular Edison email app which is listed under Apple’s Top 100 productivity apps on its App Store. According to Motherboard’s report, they have obtained confidential documents that revealed that apps such as Edison are pitching the data they have obtained to third-party companies to help them make better investment decisions.
This includes “consumer purchase metrics including brand loyalty, wallet share, purchase preferences, etc.” Edison is not alone in this as the report also revealed that other apps such as Cleanfox and Slice are equally as guilty in these practices.
While Cleanfox and Slice have yet to officially respond to the report, Edison has since published a post on Medium in which they clarify their actions and reassure users that the data they take is completely anonymous. They also justify their actions by saying that this helps them keep the app free to use, although we suppose having to give up ones privacy in exchange to using an app might not necessarily be seen as “free” to some.
The company also goes on to note that users who are not comfortable with this are free to opt-out of it, although exactly how many users are aware of this option is unclear.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, iOS, macOS and Privacy. Source: vice