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Did you know Apple has a hidden privacy setting that may be sharing your Apple ID with other Apps? No? Surprised? I was, particularly given Apple has made a point of positioning itself as a protector of privacy. It’s called “Manage Apps That Can Look You Up” and is only accessible on the desktop version of iCloud.com. Here’s what you need to know.
First, this is not about App Tracking Transparency (ATT) that Apple made a lot of noise about for iOS 14.5 and iOS 15. If you’re interested, MacWorld has a good primer on ATT but in short, apps are required to ask your permission before they track you. Apple also added a whole host of controls in the iOS Settings > Privacy menu to allegedly give you better control. But (and this is the big news), not all settings are located here, Apple has another, I would argue, somewhat hidden, privacy setting only available on iCloud.com
Apple iCloud.com – Apple’s “Hidden” Privacy Settings
Unless you lose your iOS device, you’re probably not regularly logging into the desktop site of iCloud.com, but I encourage you to do so. Now. I will emphasize, you will need to do this on a desktop browser, these settings do not show when you sign in to the iCloud mobile site.
Once you log in to iCloud, in the top middle of the screen you will see something that says “Account Settings”, click it.
On the new page that loads, scroll all the way down to the bottom, keep scrolling past all your Apple devices, and at bottom of the page on the far right-hand side you will see Apple’s other privacy setting that doesn’t even give you a hint of the privacy implications, called, innocuously “Manage Apps That Can Look You Up“.
Apple’s Manage Apps That Can Look You Up
So what is Apple’s “Manage Apps that Can Look You Up”? The best description I found was on this Apple support document, which tells you in simple terms:
“Apps that let other users of those apps look you up by the email address associated with your Apple ID. Anyone who looks you up can also see your first and last name” (source: Apple Support documentation)
Yes, that’s right! Hidden on the desktop version of iCloud.com is a setting that Apple may be sharing your First Name, Last Name, and AppleID with 3rd Party apps and, in turn, users of those apps. That’s not exactly privacy-friendly is it? What’s even less privacy friendly is Apple doesn’t even show this option if you log into the iCloud mobile website. An even less privacy-friendly move by Apple.
What’s even more worrying, is apps you may no longer use or you long deleted from your iPhone may still show in this list of apps that can “Look Me Up By Email”. In my case, the app “App in the Air”.
Apple’s support forums and reddit have multiple examples of people experiencing the same issue. See here, here, here, and here. The main culprit seems to be “App in the Air”, but another app “Darkness Bot” is also often cited. If you don’t see any apps listed in Apple iCloud Look Me Up By Email, then you’re one of the lucky few.
I reached out to “App in the Air”, specifically their Data Protection Officer (DPO). App in the Air’s DPO was incredibly fast and responsive, even though I was emailing over the holiday/new year period (kudos to them). They were also able to confirm they didn’t have my data (yay). But it is a worry the app was showing, as I haven’t had or used it for many years.
The good news is you can stop your Apple sharing your Apple ID with other apps… but there’s also bad news to come.
How to Stop Apple Sharing your Apple ID and Name with other Apps
To stop Apple from sharing your AppleID and name with other apps is straightforward, here’s how to fix it in 5 easy steps.
- Login to iCloud.com
- Click on Account Settings (middle top)
- Scroll down and on the bottom right, click on “Manage Apps that Can Look You Up”
- In the new window that opens, ensure each app listed is unchecked.
- Click Done.
You’re all set. But now for the bad news…
Deleting Apps from the Manage Apps that Can Look You Up
You can’t delete Apps from “Manage Apps That Can Look You Up”, Apple doesn’t let you – all you can do is disable the sharing.
Even if you delete the app from your device (or reinstall and delete the app) there’s no way to remove an App from the iCloud “Manage Apps That Can Look You Up” list. This is why I encourage you to check the setting because Apple could be sharing your AppleID details with 3rd Party Apps and Services without you even knowing it.
In my conversations with App in the Air, even they were frustrated by this. In their own words:
“Unfortunately, this “look me up” setting persists even if you delete the app and the account. The only thing to do here is to turn this setting off, but removing the app from this list is not possible at the moment, though I hope that Apple fixes this. I know this is not the answer you were looking for, but, truly, we don’t know what else we can do.”
All of this makes me think I am not the only one to make inquiries to App In The Air about this topic.
I want to stress, this is not App In The Air’s fault, this is an oversight by Apple. So please do not complain to App In The Air, they were friendly, responsive, and helpful throughout my research. If anything report it as a bug on Apple.com (developer account required). Apple’s hidden data-sharing setting could be an Apple bug, a forgotten web-only setting, or something Apple deprecated and never got around to tidying up but it’s a big privacy oversight.
Conclusion
Apple makes a lot of noise about privacy and they have really taken a proactive and forward position on the topic. Just keep in mind that even Apple isn’t perfect and Apple may be sharing your data without you realizing it, so take a few minutes and check the “Manage Apps that Can Look You Up” on iCloud.com (via a desktop browser, not a mobile browser). You may just find Apple has let you down when it comes to privacy.
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Any and all advice, guides, and reviews are unbiased and based on my personal experience. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions, which helps support my website. This does not have an impact on posts or my opinion of any reviewed products. If you find this post helpful and want to say thanks, please buy me a coffee or take a look at my book on Amazon. It keeps this page ad-free. Thank you!