Apple's new protections for kids could force PBS to pull its apps
Paula Kerger, Public Broadcasting Company president and CEO, warns that the popular "PBS Kids" streaming app may be pulled from the App Store due to Apple's new privacy policies covering apps marketed to children.
Young girl using an iPad mini
Kerger aired concerns about the App Store in an interview at Recode's 2019 Code Conference on Tuesday, saying the guidelines will prevent PBS from accurately evaluating whether its content and game features are working. Further, the rules could hinder the broadcaster's ability to increase its apps' effectiveness as educational tools.
Apple recently announced plans to limit data sharing in apps marketed to children. Starting Sept. 3, apps in the kids section of the App Store will no longer be able to integrate third-party advertising or analytics software. They also will not be allowed to transmit in-app data to third parties.
While the change is meant to have a positive impact by protecting children, it seems some companies developing beneficial software might be affected as an unintended consequence. PBS, a non-profit organization, does not aim to make money from kids, Kerger explained.
"We'll have to pull down the apps, and we have millions of kids that are using our apps. So it's a challenge," she said. "We're not selling stuff to kids."
The PBS Kids streaming app has millions of users who would be negatively impacted should the app shutter. Kerger is reaching out to Apple in hopes of opening up a dialogue on how to best move forward. "Sit down and talk to us," she implored to Apple and other platform operators.
Apple officially announced the new changes coming to apps intended for children at its Worldwide Developer Conference at the beginning of June.
The company has faced scrutiny over its handling of third-party apps that market device monitoring and parental control features that seemingly compete with its own Screen Time feature in iOS. In April, a New York Times report highlighted what appeared to be the targeted removal of apps designed to help users limit the time they and their children spend using devices like iPhone and iPad. Apple contested the claim, saying apps were pulled for their overzealous application of potentially invasive MDM technology.
Following an outcry from developers, Apple eased up on restrictions pertaining to apps that rely on MDM and VPN tech. Still, in an update to its App Store Review Guidelines, the company maintains "apps may not sell, use, or disclose to third parties any data for any purpose."
Young girl using an iPad mini
Kerger aired concerns about the App Store in an interview at Recode's 2019 Code Conference on Tuesday, saying the guidelines will prevent PBS from accurately evaluating whether its content and game features are working. Further, the rules could hinder the broadcaster's ability to increase its apps' effectiveness as educational tools.
Apple recently announced plans to limit data sharing in apps marketed to children. Starting Sept. 3, apps in the kids section of the App Store will no longer be able to integrate third-party advertising or analytics software. They also will not be allowed to transmit in-app data to third parties.
While the change is meant to have a positive impact by protecting children, it seems some companies developing beneficial software might be affected as an unintended consequence. PBS, a non-profit organization, does not aim to make money from kids, Kerger explained.
"We'll have to pull down the apps, and we have millions of kids that are using our apps. So it's a challenge," she said. "We're not selling stuff to kids."
The PBS Kids streaming app has millions of users who would be negatively impacted should the app shutter. Kerger is reaching out to Apple in hopes of opening up a dialogue on how to best move forward. "Sit down and talk to us," she implored to Apple and other platform operators.
Apple officially announced the new changes coming to apps intended for children at its Worldwide Developer Conference at the beginning of June.
The company has faced scrutiny over its handling of third-party apps that market device monitoring and parental control features that seemingly compete with its own Screen Time feature in iOS. In April, a New York Times report highlighted what appeared to be the targeted removal of apps designed to help users limit the time they and their children spend using devices like iPhone and iPad. Apple contested the claim, saying apps were pulled for their overzealous application of potentially invasive MDM technology.
Following an outcry from developers, Apple eased up on restrictions pertaining to apps that rely on MDM and VPN tech. Still, in an update to its App Store Review Guidelines, the company maintains "apps may not sell, use, or disclose to third parties any data for any purpose."
Comments
for the most part these are not insidious money grubbing moves by pbs and actually are used by product teams to understand things like what features aren’t being used etc.
im hoping Apple isn’t just taking this blanket ban as a PR move and unreasonably taking this weird stance against these innocuous tools.
It might be “easy” to wire your own tools but those days are long past. I remember when we built all those kinds of tools in house ten years ago but the modern trend is that all those tools are basically outsourced to third parties.
Just from a cursory reading of the article it's pretty clear PBS thinks they'll be in violation of the prohibition against app analytics. Paraphrasing here, but she said "we won't be able to tell if our apps or working or be able to improve them"
Absolutely nothing in the article implies PBS has done anything wrong yet you create a fiction from whole cloth just to side with Apple.
Why do do they need analytics in the app to do that? The content is, after all, streamed from their servers. And the data there would tell them what, and who is accessing the stream/download.
The issue is about the path the data takes. I'm sure there are APIs out there for developers to analyze and monitor their user data themselves (perhaps Apple should write an API). What Apple wants to put an end to is developers using 3rd-party data analytic services, where the data is sent to that 3rd party and stats returned to the developer. At that point trust becomes an issue because the only relationship the user can control is between themself and the developer. Once user data is passed to an outside 3rd party, trust in the relationship cannot be maintained.
On elf Apple's biggest talking points (features) is that their users can trust them to make sure their data is kept secure and private. Apple is pushing some of that onto their developers - they have to be able to, if Apple cannot trust the developer, there's no way an end user could.