Unlike other gatekeepers, Apple does not use algorithms or profiling to make any decision that would significantly affect its users without the opportunity for human review. Apple does not receive or use any personal data from third parties for any marketing or advertising purposes. Apple does not track its users.
Where users choose to personalize their services or communications, Apple uses limited personal data to provide those personalized services or communications. This may involve processing of personal data that could be considered to be automated. As part of Apple’s ongoing commitment to privacy, and in addition to the information provided in our Privacy Policy and the Product-Specific Privacy Information embedded in our products, this overview provides further information on certain processing performed by Apple that could be considered to be automated in order to offer users a more personalized experience when using Apple’s App Store1. This concerns limited processing for the following purposes:
- Sending marketing communications
- Personalization in the App Store
- User segmentation for Apple Search Ads
Users expect Apple to provide them with personalized services in a manner that reflects its commitment to privacy. Providing its services in a personalized way allows Apple to offer more relevant services to its users and to developers who want to promote their apps, and allows users to find the apps they are looking for more easily.
Marketing emails and push notifications
Apple uses personal data in a manner that could be considered to be automated in order to send marketing emails and/or push notifications with announcements, recommendations, and updates about Apple products, services, and software that are relevant to the user.
Where users agree to receive marketing communications (either via email or via push notification), they receive different types of marketing emails and/or push notifications based on limited personal data that the user provides directly to Apple from their use of the App Store and their Apple ID, such as a user’s categories of purchased content in App Store, payment types, subscriptions, pre-orders, cancellations and billing errors, account information, payment methods, and registered devices. For more information about this limited use of data, including how users can turn off communications, visit Apple’s Product-Specific Privacy Information on the App Store and Apple’s Support page for email marketing.
Personalization in the App Store
Personalization in the App Store helps users to find and discover the content that is most relevant to them. In order to establish which content to show a user on the App Store’s personalized content such as the Today tab, Search, and in the More Games You Might Like section of the Games tab, Apple uses limited personal data. The content is presented to users, taking account of their prior use of App Store including purchases and their Apple ID information.
Personalization is not made available for minors (that is, users under 13 or applicable minimum age in the relevant jurisdiction), managed accounts (that is, Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager account) and users who are not signed in. Further information, including on how to turn off personalization is provided to users in the Product-Specific Privacy Information on the App Store. Where personalized recommendations are deactivated, users will not receive customized content on — for example, the App Store’s Today tab, Search, and in the More Games You Might Like section of the Games tab.
User segments for Apple Search Ads
Apple Search Ads is a service provided to developers that allows them to promote their apps in the App Store with targeted Search Ads that are served with users placed into “segments” of users (that is, groups of users that share similar characteristics) of at least 5,000 that cannot be linked to individual users. Placing users into specific segments is based on the use of a user’s personal data in a manner that could be considered to be automated. Apple uses the following personal data for this processing: the gender, birth year, country / city, the list of apps downloaded by the user (to the extent associated with an active search ads campaign), and purchases that Apple collects from the use of App Store and the Apple ID.
If a user has opted in to Personalized Ads, segment data is sent to Apple Search Ad’s servers on an ongoing basis. Further information, including on how to turn Personalized Ads on or off is available on the Product-Specific Privacy Information on the App Store and the Product-Specific Privacy Information on Advertising.
Placing users into segments — a prerequisite for the delivery of personalized Apple Search Ads — is based on Apple’s overriding legitimate interests (that is, Apple’s interest in providing a competitive search ads offering for app developers that helps them to promote their apps in the App Store). This processing is performed before the segment data is exchanged with Ad Platforms for the delivery of Apple Search Ads, such that Ad Platforms receives this information only for users who have opted in to Personalized Ads.
1 Apple maintains separate App Stores for iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS. This description refers to “App Store” only for the sake of simplicity.