Big news about Apple, GDPR, and your privacy

May 23, 2018: Apple's new privacy site is live

Following Apple's commitment to bring new and better data privacy tools to its services, the company today launched an all-new, all privacy-focused web portal for customers: https://privacy.apple.com.

As stated previously, Apple is rolling out these tools in compliance with the EU's GDPR (see below), but will be making them available everywhere in the near future.

Big news for Apple and privacy today: In preparation for the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that kicks in on May 25, Apple is:

  1. Introducing new privacy icons that show up when Apple first asks to use your data. You can see them in iOS 11.3 and the rest of today's updates.
  2. Beginning in May in the EU, but going worldwide thereafter, Apple will be introducing four new tools that let you:
    • Get a copy of your data
    • Request a correction to your data
    • Deactivate your account
    • Delete your account
  3. Apple is once again reaffirming its commitment to privacy by:
    • Minimizing data collection
    • Offering transparent controls
    • Processing on-device rather than on Apple's cloud
    • Maintaining security, encryption.

Many of these policies and tools already exist, but Apple is streamlining everything and making it all as easy to understand and use as possible.

For more on Apple and it's privacy policies, see https://www.imore.com/e?link=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.sjv.io%2Fc%2F221109%2F473657%2F7613%3FsubId1%3DUUimUdUnU46117%26subId2%3Ddim%26u%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.apple.com%252Fprivacy%252F%26ourl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fapple.com%252Fprivacy%253Fafid%253Dp239%25257C159229%2526cid%253Daos-us-aff-ir%2526subId1%253DUUimUdUnU46117%2526subId2%253Ddim&token=8n5SmnnI

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Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.