What you need to know
- YouTube now has App Store nutrition labels on iOS.
- They reveal the hefty amount of data Google collects on users.
A server-side update to YouTube's iOS App Store listing has revealed how much data Google collects from its users.
As noted by Apple Terminal:
The labels for YouTube did not come as part of an app update, but instead were standalone and done server-side within the past 24 hours, from our understanding. According to data YouTube provides, it collects a range of user data such as your location, browsing history, contacts, purchases, and more.
The update is part of Apple's new drive to add privacy "nutrition labels" to apps, making it obvious to users what data apps use and collect.
Data used to track you includes your physical address, email address, phone number, user, and device ID.
Data linked to you for third-party advertising includes your location, contact info, search history, browsing history, and usage data. Data linked to you for the developer's (Google) advertising or marketing is the same.
Data is also collected and used for app functionality purposes, product personalization, and more.
Similar revelations were made about Facebook when that app was updated to feature Privacy Labels in December.:
The plain text of Facebook's 'App Privacy' section on the App Store runs to over 650 words, and you don't have to read the whole thing to get an idea of just how intrusive Facebook actually is as an app. Data used to track users include; your address, email address, name, phone number, whilst data linked to users includes; purchase history, precise location information, photos and videos, contacts, health & fitness analytics, and more. The list goes on and on.
