Apple recently The data protection guidelines for the App Store and iOS have been updated to force app developers to be more transparent about their data collection practices. This gives users a little more insight (and ideally control) over what data different companies can track – and how. Even giants like Google.
Users can view the information an app is tracking in the new App Privacy section on their App Store page. And because of these changes, we finally know how much data Google is collecting from some of its iOS apps. Spoiler: It’s a lot.
Google has not updated the app privacy section for all of its App Store offerings still, but here is a brief snapshot of the very few who now list the data they are tracking.
Google Home
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Google translator
Youtube
As mentioned earlier, Google keeps track of a lot of information, but thanks to Apple, we can now see most of the data it is collecting (we’re still not sure what “other data” is covering). Hopefully you will like popular services Google search, Google Maps, Google photos, Gmail, and chrome will also be updated soon.
This could be a rude awakening for some, especially those who assumed that Google’s iOS apps were less information hungry than Android’s. The fact is, all companies collect data: Facebook tracks you through its website and apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, as does Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Apple itself … the list goes on.
Even so, Google is one of the more aggressive information gatherers, and its database is one of the largest. While Google doesn’t sell personal information directly to advertisers, third-party companies pay big bucks for helping Google deliver targeted ads to more prospects.
It feels exploitative, but using your data to sell ads is different from tracking your every move for personal reasons. However, data breaches occur time and again and your data can fall into the wrong hands if companies don’t store it securely.
However, there are ways to decrease the amount of data these companies ultimately store and, hopefully, reduce the privacy risks.
How to stop apps from tracking your data
First, use the App Store’s new data tracking intelligence to make informed decisions. Do not download any apps that exceed your personal data protection threshold. You can also turn off certain tracking permissions when an app is first installed Adjust the permissions later in the iOS settings. This does not prevent apps from collecting data, but it does make the collected data more anonymous.
When it comes to Google Apps specifically, there are a few more options available:
Implementing these strategies will reduce the amount of personal data that Google stores, but not stop all tracking. To do that, you’ll have to use different apps and services instead – and hope these companies keep track of less data.
It’s hard to Cut Google out of your life completelyHowever, iOS and Mac users can create more distance than Android, Chrome OS, or even Windows users. Apple has First-party alternatives to most Google services. These apps still track some data, but Apple has a better privacy policy – at least compared to Google’s practices. Many more are available through third-party apps. Find out about alternatives to in our instructions chrome, Gmail, Google search, and Google photos.
