Apple Pushes Back Against Push Notification Demands

Apple revised its law enforcement guidelines to require a search warrant before handing over information about its customers’ push notifications to law enforcement. This change followed a letter from Senator Ron Wyden to the Department of Justice expressing concern that law enforcement were asking Google and Apple to provide information about their customer’s app notifications—which could include sensitive information about health, finances, and personal messages—and then prohibiting the companies from publicly mentioning these requests. Following this revelation, competitor Google stated that it had always required judicial approval to hand over this kind of information. Apple soon followed course, leading Senator Wyden and others to cheer Apple for “doing the right thing” to increase privacy protections for its user’s information.