Following a year of scandals, Apple is revising its App Review guidelines: mandatory safeguards for user-generated content, an explicit ban on obfuscated code used to conceal functions, and tougher penalties.
Apple published on Thursday a revision of its App Review Guidelines targeting the abuses that marked the year: AI "nudification" applications spotted by the Tech Transparency Project in January, then search suggestions and ads from the App Store that linked to them, an injunction from the San Francisco authorities in July to remove eight apps capable of producing intimate images without consent, and controversy around Grok, which Apple had privately threatened to remove.
What's changing
The user-generated content section now explicitly mentions non-consensual intimate images, and provides that a developer who does not put in place appropriate safeguards, or does not correct a reported violation, may be considered in violation of the code of conduct. Apple is also targeting apps that conceal their true function during review and only then reveal harmful capabilities: any hidden or undocumented features, including through code obfuscation, can lead to the removal of the app and the closure of the developer account. Finally, apps that facilitate human trafficking or child exploitation will be removed from the App Store and blocked on alternative distribution channels.
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