In 2020, Apple had announced that iOS 14 would be more focused on user privacy and transparency around iOS app data collection by introducing new privacy labels. These labels allow users to know which app is utilizing what data of the user.
These labels were not present in most of the apps such as the likes Google apps. However, Google finally added the Apple store privacy labels YouTube and then Gmail which was highly requested by users.
With the addition of these labels, users can now determine what Gmail is currently utilizing in order to provide these respective services of email communication. The Gmail app apparently shares the user’s location, ID with advertisers to further target that user for more advertisements. However, according to these labels, the app does not collect the user’s name, physical address, and phone number. A full description of all the details has been shown in a recent tweet:
What does the app privacy label for Gmail look like? See for yourself. pic.twitter.com/LpOPfg4Iq2
— Mitchell (@strawberrywell) February 23, 2021
Moreover, it is important to note that these labels only tell you what information can be collected not what it will collect. These labels were added by Google without even updating the Gmail app which is rather strange to most users.
Other major Google applications such as Google Maps, Photos, Chrome, etc. have not received the Apple store privacy labels till now but are expected to receive soon.
