Judge’s consent now required by Apple to release push notification data
Apple has announced that it will only provide information about its customers’ push notifications to law enforcement if a judge’s order is obtained. This aligns the iPhone maker’s policy with that of Google, making it more difficult for officials to access app data about users.
The new policy was not officially announced, but appeared sometime in the past few days in Apple’s publicly available law enforcement guidelines. It follows Oregon Senator Ron Wyden’s revelation that authorities requested such information from Apple as well as Google, the Alphabet unit that makes the Android phone operating system.
All kinds of apps use push notifications to alert smartphone users of incoming messages, breaking news, and other updates. These are audio or visual indicators that users receive when they receive an email or when their sports team wins a game. Users often don’t realize that almost all such notifications go through Google and Apple’s servers.
In a letter published by Reuters last week, Wyden said the practice gave the two companies unique insight into the traffic flowing from those apps to users, putting them in a “unique position to facilitate government oversight of how users use certain apps.”
Apple and Google reported receiving such requests. Apple added a section to its guidelines stating that such information was available “by subpoena or greater legal process.” The section has now been updated to refer to stricter warrant requirements.
Apple did not issue an official statement. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wyden said in a statement that Apple is “doing the right thing by joining Google and seeking a court order to release data related to push notifications.”
