Apple tackles unauthorised location data sharing

Apple moved to ban apps which share location data with third parties, sending developers an email stating their product violates two sections of its store guidelines.

In its email, the company states: “Upon re-evaluation, we found your app is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines,” 9to5 Mac reported.

Specifically, the apps were not in keeping with section 5.1.1 and 5.1.2, which respectively state apps should not transmit user location data to third parties without explicit consent from the user, or for unapproved purposes.

Developers have been asked to remove any code, frameworks or software development kits which violate the rules and resubmit the product for review.

The crackdown comes as the enforcement of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation nears.

It is not clear how many apps have been impacted.