Apple introduces new privacy portal to comply with GDPR

Apple is the latest tech giant to make changes to comply with GDPR, the EU’s privacy data rules, after it introduced a new website that shows customers exactly what personal data it holds on them.

Accessible via an ‘Apple ID Data & Privacy’ website — which was first spotted by 9to5Mac — Apple customers can request access to the full gamut of personal data, which includes sign-in history, contacts, calendar, notes, photos and documents, as well as services such as Apple Music, the App Store, iTunes, and Apple Care.

Dependent on the data records selected, Apple may take as long as two weeks to assemble the information while the company said the data will be deleted after two weeks.

Apple allows users to select the size of their data download — which goes as high as 25GB or can be split into smaller chunks — while it will also apparently be made available in standard data formats, meaning it can be stored and easily accessed.

The data site also gives users the option to correct data, deactive their account and delete all information held by Apple in compliance with GDPR.

Deleting data is exactly as the term suggests, while deactivation means an account is made unavailable temporarily. In the latter case, all data and services associated with the account — for example, phone book contacts, FaceTime or purchase made in iTunes — will be inaccessible whilst it is deactivated.

The data service is initially available in EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, but Apple said it plans to expand the options across the rest of the world later this year.