APPLE BANS DEVELOPERS FROM SELLING DATA COLLECTED VIA HEALTHKIT

Apple Ban Developers Selling on Personal Data to Ad Platforms

Last week the Financial Times reported that Apple had made modifications to its iOS developer license agreements, essentially the set of rules developers must follow if they want to create apps for Apple devices. According to the report, Apple has now explicitly banned developers from selling health data gathered by HealthKit to advertising platforms, data brokers or information resellers. The agreement further stipulates that developers must not use HealthKit’s API or the information gathered from it “for any purpose other than providing health and/or fitness services.” HealthKit allows software developers to link medical mobile applications with a comprehensive health profile and eliminates the need for data aggregation tools.

This new approach from Apple could serve to distinguish them from other competitors in the health data applications sector, most particularly Google, which Forbes believe are the most likely to try to monetize the aggregation of sensitive medical data.