Apple updates its Legal Process Guidelines after the push notification spy scandal،
Less than a week after another surveillance scandal broke, Apple has updated its legal process guidelines.
Last week, US Senator Ron Wyden expressed concerns that governments around the world are spying on smartphone users through push notifications on iOS and Android devices. In a letter to the Justice Department, it was stated that foreign officials were demanding the data from Google and Apple because almost all push notifications pass through Google and Apple servers.
In a statement following Senator Wyden's letter, Apple said Wyden's tip gave them the green light to share more details about how governments monitored push notifications. “In this case, the federal government has prohibited us from sharing any information,” said the Cupertino giant. “Now that this method has become public, we are updating our transparency reports to detail these types of requests.” And that's what they did (via AppleInsider):
When users authorize an app they installed to receive push notifications, an Apple Push Notification Service (APNs) token is generated and registered with that developer and device. Some apps may have multiple APN tokens for an account on a device to differentiate messages and multimedia. The Apple ID associated with a registered APNs token and associated records may be obtained with an order under 18 USC 2703(d) or a search warrant.
Previously, the section stated that the push notification token could be obtained with “a subpoena or further legal process.” Requiring a search warrant is a significant change and reflects the same requirements provided by Google.
