Apple has once again released its biannual transparency report covering the first half of 2022. With this report, the company details requests from governments and other agencies around the world. With this report, Apple is for the first time reporting the number of requests from the US government regarding specific longitude and latitude coordinate data.
Over the years, Apple has been frequently queried regarding the number of geofence warrants they receive from US law enforcement agencies and their compliance with such requests. For the very first time, and as a new regular practice, Apple will be revealing the total count of requests from the United States government.
These requests concern customer data associated with specific latitude and longitude coordinates within defined timeframes, commonly known as “geofence requests.” According to Apple’s report, the company has no data to furnish in response to geofence requests.
Apple’s says its commitment to privacy as a “fundamental human right” drives its policy. The company refrains from collecting such information, making it impossible for them to provide it to law enforcement even when legally required. This approach distinguishes Apple from other tech companies that do collect this data about users, and therefore are able to comply with these geofence warrants.
Apple has a centralized and standardized process for receiving, tracking, processing, and responding to legal requests from law enforcement, government, and private parties worldwide, from when a request is received until when a response is provided.
You can find the full transparency report below, or on Apple’s website.
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