Apple's Open Letter Reveals Foreign Governments Resort to 'Push Notification Spying'

Apple has recently acknowledged the occurrence of "push notification spying" orchestrated by foreign governments.

This tackles the intrusive practice where governments clandestinely seek data from Apple and Google through legal orders regarding push notifications on iPhones and Android devices.

Senator Wyden Unearths Privacy Concerns

Senator Roy Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, uncovered this privacy concern after receiving a tip. Prompted by the revelation, the politician reached out to both Apple and Google, seeking confirmation.

Surprisingly, both tech giants admitted to the practice but cited restrictions from the U.S. government on disclosing such information publicly.

Secrecy Surrounding Legal Orders

The secrecy surrounding these legal orders has prevented Apple from including this practice in its annual transparency reports, designed to inform users about data disclosures to governments and law enforcement agencies.

"Push notifications [...] aren't sent directly from the app provider to users' smartphones. Instead, they pass through a kind of digital post office run by the phone's operating system provider. For iPhones, this service is provided by Apple's Push Notification Service; for Android phones, it's Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging. These services ensure timely and efficient delivery of notifications, but this also means that Apple and Google serve as intermediaries in the transmission process," the open letter reads as reported by 9to5Mac.

Senator Wyden Advocates for Transparency

Senator Wyden has taken a bold step by writing an open letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, urging the rescinding of secrecy requirements. He emphasizes the need for Apple and Google to have the freedom to be transparent about legal demands, especially from foreign governments.

Senator Wyden has effectively removed the secrecy requirements imposed on the two companies by making the matter public. Regardless of the Department of Justice's response, the Cupertino titan has seized the opportunity to include this data in its transparency reports.

The company affirmed this move, stating, "Now that this method has become public, we are updating our transparency reporting to detail these kinds of requests."

Understanding Push Data's Significance

While end-to-end encryption protects message content in services like iMessage and WhatsApp, push data still holds valuable information. Notifications, even from seemingly benign apps, can unveil details such as your approximate location.

Examining patterns of push data could reveal significant insights, allowing governments to conclude the nature of communication between individuals, even without accessing the message content.

Transparency Reports to Illuminate the Issue

Since push notification spying is now public knowledge, Apple is set to include relevant data in its transparency reports. Although these reports won't disclose specific targets, they will provide a comprehensive view of the scale of the issue and the nations involved in this controversial surveillance practice.

In another story by Reuters, many developers and users do not know that their data is transferred to the tech giants through push notifications.

For David Libeau, a French developer, this was a "privacy nightmare" for everyone.