Apple releases iOS 15.2 with privacy report and ‘digital legacy’ feature – Tablets and phones – News

Apple has released iOS 15.2. Among other things, this update adds the App Privacy Report. This is an overview that shows which apps collect which data. iOS 15.2 also gets a ‘digital inheritance’ function that allows relatives to request iCloud data from the deceased.

IOS users can from version 15.2 find a privacy report in the settings, under ‘privacy’. In that overview for example, users can see how many times a particular app has requested access to their location data, camera, microphone, contacts, and photos. The report also shows which domain names an app contacts and how often that happens. Information about data collection remains in the privacy overview for seven days.

IOS 15.0 already had a function to record the data collection of apps at release. Previously, however, that data could only be exported as a JSON file. With the privacy overview, iOS gets an interface that makes it easier to view the data from this function.

Furthermore, iOS 15.2 gets a ‘digital legacy’ feature. This allows next of kin to access the iCloud account and personal information of a deceased iOS user. That data includes, for example, backups and photos, but not saved passwords in the iCloud Keychain password manager. iOS users can designate up to five contacts with iOS 15.2 who can request this information when the user dies. Next of kin must enter a code and share a copy of a death certificate with Apple to access the data, appeared before from an iOS 15.2 beta.

Apple also announced that iOS 15.2 in the United States will have a function that can scan iMessage messages to children for nude images. Parents can enable that feature through Family Sharing for a child under the age of 13. The function automatically blurs nude images that a child receives via iMessage and then displays a warning. The scan takes place on the child’s device itself and does not work with other messaging apps, such as WhatsApp.

The tech giant further adds support for the Apple Music Voice-abonnement. That is a cheaper version of Apple Music, which allows users to control the service only via the Siri voice assistant. That subscription would appear this fall, but is not yet available in the Netherlands and Belgium. Apple also talks about various bug fixes, for example for HomeKit and CarPlay.