Apple will make it mandatory for apps to make it simple to delete your account

Apple has been working hard on regulating applications. It is one of the few tech companies that are making privacy as well as data protection their priority. The company started with the App Tracking Transparency feature which would require third-party applications to specify what permissions are required and why and give users the option to opt-out of sharing any data they don’t want. This feature was rolled out with the iOS 15 update, while it is not perfect, it is the first step towards a safer digital world.

In a recent post, the Silicon Valley tech giant has announced that it will soon be making it mandatory for third-party applications to let users easily delete their accounts after uninstalling the app.

Apple Users to easily delete their accounts

You do not have to be tech-savvy to remove a third-party app from your Apple device — in fact, it’s as simple as pressing a button. However, just because you remove an app doesn’t mean the account you created within it is permanently lost. Apple will begin asking third-party developers to simplify that process on January 31, 2022.

Apple announced on Wednesday that it will swiftly begin enforcing an update to its App Retailer Assessment Guidelines from last June that states that “any apps that enable for account creation should also enable customers to prompt account termination from throughout the app.”

In many cases, app developers design account deletion processes to be as time-consuming as possible, often redirecting users to a browser type or directing them to send someone an email to force the deletion of their accounts. However, you should keep in mind that Apple’s phrasing is a little hazy here — “provoke” could just indicate that apps are required to begin the deletion process in-app, but are ultimately permitted to send users on a treasure hunt to ensure that it occurs.

The new requirement follows several other recent modifications to the App Store’s guidelines, including increased enforcement of “repeated manipulative or deceptive behavior or other fraudulent conduct,” fraud, and other app quality issues such as non-consensual content sharing. Apple will also be cracking down on “‘hookup’ applications that include pornography or are used to aid prostitution,” as well as apps that facilitate the legal sale of marijuana, which will now be formally “geo-restricted to the associated legal jurisdiction.”

Wrapping Up

Additionally, Apple has also pushed out a new and improved ‘Report a Drawback’ button, which had been missing for years but is now back from the dead. Customers can now more easily notify the company of apps that appear to be more likely to be scams, whereas the previous method only allowed customers to report “a quality concern.”