Privacy Manifest Requirement for iOS Apps

Thank you for your continued support and trust in Monaca.

We would like to inform you about a recent development in Apple's App Store privacy protection initiative. As of May 1, 2024, all apps published on the App Store will be required to incorporate a new file called the "Privacy Manifest."

The Privacy Manifest must include information about the types of APIs used by the app and any integrated third-party SDKs, the reasons for their use, the types of data collected, and the purpose of data collection. This change directly impacts iOS app developers.

Monaca's Support

To ensure a smooth transition for our customers in meeting these new app requirements, Monaca is taking the following steps:

1. Cordova Support: We have submitted a pull request to Cordova to support the Privacy Manifest. As soon as this pull request is merged, we will prepare Monaca to accommodate these changes.

2. Plugin Updates: We are updating the plugins provided by Monaca to comply with the new app requirements.

3. Guides and Documentation: We will enhance our documentation and guides on how to create Privacy Manifests and declare API permission reasons.

Required Preparations

• Your project will need to be updated to Cordova 12.

• Additionally, an update to the latest cordova-ios will be required.

Setting Up the Privacy Manifest

You can configure the Privacy Manifest by adding the following to your config.xml file:

<platform name="ios">
  <privacy-manifest>
    <key>NSPrivacyTracking</key>
    <!-- Tracking status <true/> or <false/> -->
    <key>NSPrivacyTrackingDomains</key>
    <!-- Array of tracking domains -->
    <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypes</key>
    <!-- Array of "APIs used and their reasons" -->
    <key>NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypes</key>
    <!-- Array of "collected data types, user linking, tracking, and purpose of data collection" -->
  </privacy-manifest>
</platform>

The example above sets the following information:

• NSPrivacyTracking: Specifies whether the app tracks users. Set to <true/> or <false/>.

• NSPrivacyTrackingDomains: Specifies the tracking domains as an array of strings.

• NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypes: Specifies the APIs used by the app and their reasons as an array.

• NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypes: Specifies the collected data types, user linking, tracking, and purpose of data collection as an array.

These settings allow you to explicitly declare information about your app's privacy practices.

For more information, please refer to Apple's official documentation:

Specific APIs used:

Describing use of required reason API | Apple Developer DocumentationApple Developer Documentation

Data collected:

Describing data use in privacy manifests | Apple Developer DocumentationApple Developer Documentation

Note

A phenomenon has been confirmed where the App Store cannot recognise the privacy manifest you have set up if the app name contains Japanese characters. Even though the privacy manifest has been set, if the privacy manifest is found to be incomplete during Apple's review, please set it in config.xml as follows. Please set as follows in config.xml.

<name short="[Japanese App Name]">[English App Name]</name>

Monaca is fully committed to supporting our customers in smoothly adapting to Apple's new app requirements. We will keep you updated on the latest information through this announcement.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for your continued support and trust in Monaca.