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Privacy Software Apple

Apple Says Apps Must Offer a Way To Delete Your Account Starting In Early 2022 (engadget.com) 23

Apple says that as of January 31st, 2022, all applications will need to offer people a method of deleting their accounts. This applies to all iOS, iPadOS and macOS apps. Engadget reports: The company announced this requirement alongside other App Store guideline changes at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June as part of a push to give users more control over their data. As The Verge notes, Apple is only requiring developers to let people "initiate deletion of their account from within the app," so apps might send you to a website or even a chat with an agent before you can actually close your account.
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Apple Says Apps Must Offer a Way To Delete Your Account Starting In Early 2022

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  • by Pollux ( 102520 ) <speter@[ ]ata.net.eg ['ted' in gap]> on Wednesday October 06, 2021 @06:52PM (#61867747) Journal

    Does this also apply to Apple ID? Apple iCloud Backup? etc.?

    Because, last I checked, Apple has a ton of user data themselves.

  • I'd love to delete some Apple apps both on my phone and my computer. I get the message that I don't have the correct privileges to do that. Yeah, so who owns my phone and why won't they let me delete some useless apps?

  • So I wonder what this means for services which cannot legally delete your records. Right off the bat I am sure that medical apps have legal requirements that prevent this. I know in the US that my industry (online training) is not allowed to delete training records for up to 7 years so we have made it a policy to never delete anything.
    • So I wonder what this means for services which cannot legally delete your records.

      The requirement is for your account to be deleted, so no one can get access using your login ID or credentials.

      There is no requirement to delete data.

  • by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Wednesday October 06, 2021 @07:59PM (#61867869)

    Delete as in make the account invisible or
    Delete as in remove all data as if they never had an account to begin with?

  • Endless free trials (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mkwan ( 2589113 ) on Wednesday October 06, 2021 @10:04PM (#61868137)

    Sign up for a free trial. Delete account. Repeat.

    It's also difficult to ban users for abusive behaviour if they can delete all evidence that they were abusive.

  • If you're using a brokerage or banking app, for example, is Apple going to force the bank to provide an option to close your account from your iPhone? That can be a pretty complex process, and it probably isn't something that shouldn't be done from a 5 inch touchscreen.

    Something tells me that the unsubscribe link from a government sponsored service like the IRS or a police mandated location tracker also isn't going to do much, because it simply isn't an option.

    • do courts use iOS apps for location tracking? I thought they had dedicated hardware for that (ankle bracelets) to enable them to build in anti-tampering capabilities. If I have to put the app on my phone, what is to stop me from simply turning my phone off and pleading that the battery died??

      Who has an IRS "account"? is that even a thing?
    • I know people donâ(TM)t read TFA article here, but the story at the top of this page only has five sentences, and it doesnâ(TM)t say this. Check the last sentence.

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell

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