Google, Meta, Spotify accused of flouting Apple’s device fingerprinting rules

Google, however, refuted the allegations.

“We’ve reviewed the research and determined that Chrome’s behavior does not violate Apple’s policy, and the data is not being used for fingerprinting,” a Google spokesperson said. “Instead, this data is being used to ensure proper device functionality.”

According to Google, the data being sent off-device is not being derived from the “required reasons APIs.” The data here is being used to ensure a device functions properly when its clock is updated for various reasons (such as taking a flight that impacts your timezone).

Questions to Meta and Spotify have remained unanswered. Apple too did not respond to the queries on the matter.

In an X thread, the researchers at Mysk said more apps were found to be senging the collected data off-device, including YouTube, Reddit, eBay, and Discord.

“The new rule came into effect on May 1, 2024. So we’re testing popular apps that get updated after that deadline,” Mysk said.