Apple: the first tech giant to release new privacy rules

Tech giants and law enforcement agencies in the US have been engaged for a while in a privacy battle. Apple is the first company to reveal its new rules when it comes to customer privacy, in what cases users will be notified and when federal agencies can request private data.

American giant posted its new rules on the official website yesterday and reflect Apple's fight for privacy. “Apple will notify its customers when their personal information is being sought in response to legal process expect where providing notice is prohibited by the legal process itself, by a court order Apple receives, or by applicable law or where Apple, is its sole discretion, believes that providing notice could create a risk of injury or death to an identifiable individual or group of individuals or in situations where the case relates to child endangerment,” part of the official statement released by Apple.

The tech giant also confirmed it will be able to extract from active users SMS intel, contacts, audio and video recordings, call logs and photos made. However, emails are off the list. Apple confirmed data will only be available from native apps and from devices running iOS 4 or any later edition.

Multiple tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook or Apple are already working on revised privacy policies. All these policies have in the center the ability to inform customers when law enforcement agencies request their private data. US Justice Department was the first to object saying criminals would have all the time in the world to erase vital evidence and even flee prosecution.