Google delaying updating its iOS apps to provide privacy details? Here's what the company has to say

Speculations are rife that the search engine giant, which offers multiple services through its apps like Google Maps, Google Drive, Gmail, YouTube, is delaying updates to avoid providing privacy details. As per the new Apple iOS 14 privacy policy, developers have to provide the type of data their app collects from users. Several apps have abided by the requirements and updated the privacy details on the Apple App Store. However, Google is yet to update the details for all its apps.

A Fast Company report states that Google apps were updated a day before the mandate to skip providing privacy details. "By getting in all its existing apps’ updates on or before December 7, Google has managed to avoid filling out a privacy label for any of their apps so far. You can verify this yourself by launching the App Store app on your iPhone, selecting any Google-owned app in the store, and then checking its privacy label on the app’s listing," The report stated.

However, Google told TechCrunch that it will update its iOS apps with privacy labels starting this week. The company said that most of the Google staff were on leave due to the holiday season, which is why the company’s iOS apps have not been updated since then.