ICEBlock climbs to the top of the App Store charts after officials slam it (www.engadget.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by rssbot@lemmy.bestiver.se to c/hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se

6 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] blargh513@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 weeks ago

The creator says its not on android because it would put users at risk because they will be identifiable, but how is this not the case on iOS? You have to sign in to your apple id to use the app store, and I would presume that apple logs app downloads by ID.

Since apple maps has a "gulf of america" I would presume they are more than willing to work with the current regime to share user data.

I'm not saying android is any better, but you can sideload it without a google account or run it in a private app space that is not associated with your google Id. There are plenty of apps on android that dont bake in tracking stuff, they're on F-droid.

[-] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Why is Device Identifier collected as Data Linked to You for some Apple apps but not others?

Whether the device ID is linked to you or not linked to you depends on the nature of the ID and whether Apple can link it to user identity. If it can be linked to your identity we have listed it as Data Linked to You, and if it cannot be linked to your identity, then it is listed as Data Not Linked to you. For example, Contacts shares a device identifier with Apple, but it is not linked to your identity, so Device Identifier is listed as Data Not Linked to You.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102399

Here is a screenshot of the data this app tracks based on the nutritional label from the app store:

As a comparison, here is the nutrition label for Apple's own Contacts app

[-] blargh513@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

Sure, that appears to represent app data itself, I'm talking about app download/install. It would be fantastic if there was no logging of app install, but I have a hard time believing that would be the case.

[-] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

When you download an app from the App Store, or install an app on your Apple Watch, identifiers such as your device’s hardware ID and IP address are logged by Apple along with your Apple Account. Apple may use the IP address of your internet connection to approximate your location in order to determine whether certain apps that are subject to legal restrictions in some regions can be made available to you.

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/app-store/

I personally wouldn't download this app, but I guess at least if you do, the app itself isn't giving apple any information. Apple will know you have the app, but not what you do with it.

this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025

98 points (99.0% liked)

Hacker News

1985 readers

427 users here now

Posts from the RSS Feed of HackerNews.

The feed sometimes contains ads and posts that have been removed by the mod team at HN.

founded 10 months ago

MODERATORS

patrick@lemmy.bestiver.se

rssbot@lemmy.bestiver.se