Apple's App Privacy Report will notify if apps are accessing personal details; Learn to use

Apple began rolling out the App Privacy Report, which is designed to help users understand the privacy practices of an app before they download it. The function combined with Apple's App Store labels and LED indicators (for the front camera and microphone access) is intended to give users an idea of the applications that collect their data. Now, with iOS 15.2 that started rolling out earlier this month, iPhone and iPad users are finally getting the Privacy Report feature of the app. Apple explains, "This is a great opportunity to review your app's sensor, data, and internet usage."

It means that users with iPhone 6s or newer versions can use the App Privacy Report from the Settings app. To activate the feature, go to Settings> Privacy> App Privacy Report> Enable App Privacy Report.

Apple explains that users will need to identify all data collected by third-party partners. It can be done through the App Store tags, available since last year. That way, users will need to check if the developer has disclosed the collected data. For developers, Apple says, "You're responsible for keeping your responses accurate and up to date. If your practices change, update your responses in App Store Connect."

Once you enable the App Privacy Report, users will see recent data from any app. In my case, I can see that WhatsApp is the last application that I visited and that it accessed my microphone, contacts, photos and camera. In that case, the WhatsApp application already reveals access to these areas in the App Store. When App Privacy Report is enabled, users can also view an App Network Activity that shows how many (and which) domains an app accessed. In the most contacted domains, users can verify which applications accessed that domain.

In case you want to disable the App Privacy Report, go to Settings and select Privacy. Scroll down and tap App Privacy Report and now tap on Turn off App Privacy Report at the bottom.