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WhatsApp goes after Apple over new privacy label requirements

09 December 2020
 Dan Ackermann

Facebook's global messaging service WhatsApp is protesting Apple's requirement that app owners submit information about the user data they collect for use in new privacy labels coming to Apple's app store..

The state of play: WhatsApp says that the provision is anti-competitive because Apple's own encrypted messaging service, iMessage, is preinstalled on iPhones and doesn't need to be downloaded from Apple's app store, where the privacy labels are now required.

  • "We think labels should be consistent across first and third party apps as well as reflect the strong measures apps may take to protect people’s private information," a WhatsApp spokesperson told Axios.
  • “While providing people with easy to read information is a good start, we believe it’s important people can compare these 'privacy nutrition' labels from apps they download with apps that come pre-installed, like iMessage."

Catch up quick: Apple first announced at its worldwide developer conference in June that by January 2021,, the tech giant would require app developers to submit information detailing exactly what types of data they collect on users.

  • Because so many apps pull such different types of user data, Apple has tried to streamline what the labels will look like by using broad-base terms like "financial information" and "user content" to describe data collection broadly.
  • WhatsApp's view is that the terms may spook users about what data WhatsApp actually collects, giving it a competitive disadvantage to iMessage.

Details: WhatsApp submitted the required information to Apple on Monday. In a blog post detailing the issue, the company clarified what type of information it does collect versus how it will be portrayed per Apple's new label.

  • "Our teams have submitted our privacy labels to Apple but Apple's template does not shed light on the lengths apps may go to protect sensitive information," a WhatsApp spokesperson said. "While WhatsApp cannot see people’s messages or precise location, we're stuck using the same broad labels with apps that do."

The big picture: The privacy "nutrition labels" are part of a greater privacy push by Apple following its latest iOS 14 system update in September. Some of the updates have drawn criticism from Facebook and other app publishers, like gaming developers.

  • In August, Facebook warned advertisers that they could expect weaker ad performance from iPhone users once iOS 14 rolled out due to changes it planned to make to its Identifier for Advertisers service, which makes it easier for Facebook advertisers to target users on its apps for downloads.
  • Apple later said it would delay the rollout of the IDFA changes until next year.

What's next: Apple required all app developers to submit the privacy information by Tuesday. It's unclear when the nutrition labels will begin appearing in Apple's app store.

Go deeper: Frenemies Facebook and Apple square off

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.