Prioritize user privacy and data security in your app. Discuss best practices for data handling, user consent, and security measures to protect user information.

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Privacy & Security Resources
General: Forums topic: Privacy & Security Privacy Resources Security Resources Share and Enjoy — Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
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318
Jul ’25
Errors with Attestation on App
We recently deployed Attestation on our application, and for a majority of the 40,000 users it works well. We have about six customers who are failing attestation. In digging through debug logs, we're seeing this error "iOS assertion verification failed. Unauthorized access attempted." We're assuming that the UUID is blocked somehow on Apple side but we're stumped as to why. We had a customer come in and we could look at the phone, and best we can tell it's just a generic phone with no jailbroken or any malicious apps. How can we determine if the UUID is blocked?
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170
May ’25
Cannot update ASCredentialIdentityStore while device locked
Our product includes a background sync process that synchronizes credentials between devices. We need to update ASCredentialIdentityStore when credentials are changed, we have noticed that the ASCredentialIdentityStore.shared.saveCredentialIdentities() fails to run when the device is locked. Is it possible to update ASCredentialIdentityStore when the device is locked?
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74
Apr ’25
passkey in iOS via iCloudKeyChain
I have a very basic binary question around passkeys. Assuming everything is on latest and greatest version with respect to iOS, when user starts creating a passkey in platform-authenticator i.e., iCloudKeyChain (Apple Password Manager) , will iCloudKeyChain create a hardware-bound passkey in secure-enclave i.e., is brand new key-pair created right inside Secure-enclave ? OR will the keypair be created in software i.e., software-bound-passkey ?? i.e., software-bound keypair and store the private-key locally in the device encrypted with a key that is of course created in secure-enclave.
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146
May ’25
Authentication using MSAL library in offline mode
Hi. We are trying to get the access token before calling any API. The app can go in bad network areas but the token acquisition keeps happening for the network call. The devices are managed devices which means it has some policies installed. We are using MSAL lib for the authentication and we are investigating from that angle too but the below error seems to be coming from apple authentication which needs our attention. ========================================== LaunchServices: store (null) or url (null) was nil: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=68, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried. Failed to initialize client context with error Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "process may not map database" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=process may not map database, _LSLine=68, _LSFunction=_LSServer_GetServerStoreForConnectionWithCompletionHandler} Failed to get application extension record: Error Domain=NSOSStatusErrorDomain Code=-54 "(null)" ASAuthorizationController credential request failed with error: Error Domain=com.apple.AuthenticationServices.AuthorizationError Code=1003 "(null)" ========================================== This happens mostly when we switches the network or keep the device in no or low network area. This comes sometimes when app goes in background too. Just trying to give as much as information I could. Any lead would be highly appreciated. Thank you
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96
Apr ’25
Appstore submission rejected - Privacy
Please correct the following issues and upload a new binary to App Store Connect. ITMS-91061: Missing privacy manifest - Your app includes “Frameworks/FirebaseCoreDiagnostics.framework/FirebaseCoreDiagnostics”, which includes FirebaseCoreDiagnostics, an SDK that was identified in the documentation as a commonly used third-party SDK. If a new app includes a commonly used third-party SDK, or an app update adds a new commonly used third-party SDK, the SDK must include a privacy manifest file. Please contact the provider of the SDK that includes this file to get an updated SDK version with a privacy manifest. For more details about this policy, including a list of SDKs that are required to include signatures and manifests, visit: https://developer.apple.com/support/third-party-SDK-requirements. ITMS-91061: Missing privacy manifest - Your app includes “Frameworks/FBLPromises.framework/FBLPromises”, which includes FBLPromises, an SDK that was identified in the documentation as a commonly used third-party SDK. If a new app includes a commonly used third-party SDK, or an app update adds a new commonly used third-party SDK, the SDK must include a privacy manifest file. Please contact the provider of the SDK that includes this file to get an updated SDK version with a privacy manifest. For more details about this policy, including a list of SDKs that are required to include signatures and manifests, visit: https://developer.apple.com/support/third-party-SDK-requirements. ITMS-91061: Missing privacy manifest - Your app includes “Frameworks/GoogleDataTransport.framework/GoogleDataTransport”, which includes GoogleDataTransport, an SDK that was identified in the documentation as a commonly used third-party SDK. If a new app includes a commonly used third-party SDK, or an app update adds a new commonly used third-party SDK, the SDK must include a privacy manifest file. Please contact the provider of the SDK that includes this file to get an updated SDK version with a privacy manifest. For more details about this policy, including a list of SDKs that are required to include signatures and manifests, visit: https://developer.apple.com/support/third-party-SDK-requirements. our app is .NET MAUI app so we already addressed this by adding privacyinfo.xcprivacy privacy manifest under platform/ios/resources but still get flagged for this <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>NSPrivacyTracking</key> <false/> <key>NSPrivacyTrackingDomains</key> <array/> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypes</key> <array> <dict> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPIType</key> <string>NSPrivacyAccessedAPICategoryFileTimestamp</string> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypeReasons</key> <array> <string>C617.1</string> </array> </dict> <dict> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPIType</key> <string>NSPrivacyAccessedAPICategorySystemBootTime</string> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypeReasons</key> <array> <string>35F9.1</string> </array> </dict> <dict> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPIType</key> <string>NSPrivacyAccessedAPICategoryDiskSpace</string> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypeReasons</key> <array> <string>E174.1</string> </array> </dict> <dict> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPIType</key> <string>NSPrivacyAccessedAPICategoryUserDefaults</string> <key>NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypeReasons</key> <array> <string>CA92.1</string> </array> </dict> </array> <key>NSPrivacyCollectedDataTypes</key> <array/> </dict> </plist>
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132
Apr ’25
Safari has slight variances in people's experience
Hi team, if I log into my app on Safari and try to enroll/challenge MFA security key option, I will be able to see this pop-up that gives me the option to pick either passkeys or external security keys However, my team member who's using the same version of safari, can only see the external security key option Why is this?
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306
Mar ’25
How to Digitally Sign a PDF File in Swift?
I'm currently working on a project in Swift where I need to digitally sign a PDF file. I have the following resources available: Private Key stored in the iOS Keychain with a tag. Public Key also stored in the iOS Keychain with a tag. A valid certificate stored as a PEM string. I need to digitally sign a PDF file with the above keys and certificate, but I'm struggling to find a clear and straightforward example or guidance on how to achieve this in Swift. Specifically, I’m looking for help with: Creating the digital signature using the private key and certificate. Embedding this signature into the PDF file. Any considerations I should be aware of regarding the format of the signed PDF (e.g., CMS, PKCS7, etc.). If anyone has experience with digitally signing PDFs in Swift, I would greatly appreciate your guidance or code examples. Thank you in advance!
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543
Dec ’24
Inquiry on Automatic Passkey Upgrades in iOS 26
Hi everyone, I’m working on adapting our app to iOS 26’s new passkey feature, specifically Automatic Passkey Upgrades. https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/279/ Our app already supports passkey registration and authentication, which have been running reliably in production. We’d like to extend passkey coverage to more users. According to the WWDC session, adding the parameter requestStyle: .conditional to createCredentialRegistrationRequest should allow the system to seamlessly upgrade an account with a passkey. However, in my testing, I consistently receive the following error: Error | Error Domain=com.apple.AuthenticationServices.AuthorizationError Code=1001 "(null)" Test environment: Xcode 26.0 beta 4 (17A5285i) iPhone 11 running iOS 26.0 (23A5297n) Questions: Is the Automatic Passkey Upgrades feature currently available in iOS 26? I understand that the system may perform internal checks and not all upgrade attempts will succeed. However, during development, is there a way to obtain more diagnostic information? At the moment, it’s unclear whether the failure is due to internal validation or an issue with my code or environment. Thanks.
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465
Sep ’25
Question about revoke the token in 'Sign in with Apple'
News link: https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=12m75xbj If your app offers Sign in with Apple, you’ll need to use the Sign in with Apple REST API to revoke user tokens when deleting an account. I'm not good English. I'm confused about the above sentence Do I have to use REST API unconditionally or can I just delete to the account data?
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155
Mar ’25
App Attest Validation Nonce Not Matched
Greetings, We are struggling to implement device binding according to your documentation. We are generation a nonce value in backend like this: public static String generateNonce(int byteLength) { byte[] randomBytes = new byte[byteLength]; new SecureRandom().nextBytes(randomBytes); return Base64.getUrlEncoder().withoutPadding().encodeToString(randomBytes); } And our mobile client implement the attestation flow like this: @implementation AppAttestModule - (NSData *)sha256FromString:(NSString *)input { const char *str = [input UTF8String]; unsigned char result[CC_SHA256_DIGEST_LENGTH]; CC_SHA256(str, (CC_LONG)strlen(str), result); return [NSData dataWithBytes:result length:CC_SHA256_DIGEST_LENGTH]; } RCT_EXPORT_MODULE(); RCT_EXPORT_METHOD(generateAttestation:(NSString *)nonce resolver:(RCTPromiseResolveBlock)resolve rejecter:(RCTPromiseRejectBlock)reject) { if (@available(iOS 14.0, *)) { DCAppAttestService *service = [DCAppAttestService sharedService]; if (![service isSupported]) { reject(@"not_supported", @"App Attest is not supported on this device.", nil); return; } NSData *nonceData = [self sha256FromString:nonce]; NSUserDefaults *defaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults]; NSString *savedKeyId = [defaults stringForKey:@"AppAttestKeyId"]; NSString *savedAttestation = [defaults stringForKey:@"AppAttestAttestationData"]; void (^resolveWithValues)(NSString *keyId, NSData *assertion, NSString *attestationB64) = ^(NSString *keyId, NSData *assertion, NSString *attestationB64) { NSString *assertionB64 = [assertion base64EncodedStringWithOptions:0]; resolve(@{ @"nonce": nonce, @"signature": assertionB64, @"deviceType": @"IOS", @"attestationData": attestationB64 ?: @"", @"keyId": keyId }); }; void (^handleAssertion)(NSString *keyId, NSString *attestationB64) = ^(NSString *keyId, NSString *attestationB64) { [service generateAssertion:keyId clientDataHash:nonceData completionHandler:^(NSData *assertion, NSError *assertError) { if (!assertion) { reject(@"assertion_error", @"Failed to generate assertion", assertError); return; } resolveWithValues(keyId, assertion, attestationB64); }]; }; if (savedKeyId && savedAttestation) { handleAssertion(savedKeyId, savedAttestation); } else { [service generateKeyWithCompletionHandler:^(NSString *keyId, NSError *keyError) { if (!keyId) { reject(@"keygen_error", @"Failed to generate key", keyError); return; } [service attestKey:keyId clientDataHash:nonceData completionHandler:^(NSData *attestation, NSError *attestError) { if (!attestation) { reject(@"attestation_error", @"Failed to generate attestation", attestError); return; } NSString *attestationB64 = [attestation base64EncodedStringWithOptions:0]; [defaults setObject:keyId forKey:@"AppAttestKeyId"]; [defaults setObject:attestationB64 forKey:@"AppAttestAttestationData"]; [defaults synchronize]; handleAssertion(keyId, attestationB64); }]; }]; } } else { reject(@"ios_version", @"App Attest requires iOS 14+", nil); } } @end For validation we are extracting the nonce from the certificate like this: private static byte[] extractNonceFromAttestationCert(X509Certificate certificate) throws IOException { byte[] extensionValue = certificate.getExtensionValue("1.2.840.113635.100.8.2"); if (Objects.isNull(extensionValue)) { throw new IllegalArgumentException("Apple App Attest nonce extension not found in certificate."); } ASN1Primitive extensionPrimitive = ASN1Primitive.fromByteArray(extensionValue); ASN1OctetString outerOctet = ASN1OctetString.getInstance(extensionPrimitive); ASN1Sequence sequence = (ASN1Sequence) ASN1Primitive.fromByteArray(outerOctet.getOctets()); ASN1TaggedObject taggedObject = (ASN1TaggedObject) sequence.getObjectAt(0); ASN1OctetString nonceOctet = ASN1OctetString.getInstance(taggedObject.getObject()); return nonceOctet.getOctets(); } And for the verification we are using this method: private OptionalMethodResult<Void> verifyNonce(X509Certificate certificate, String expectedNonce, byte[] authData) { byte[] expectedNonceHash; try { byte[] nonceBytes = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-256").digest(expectedNonce.getBytes()); byte[] combined = ByteBuffer.allocate(authData.length + nonceBytes.length).put(authData).put(nonceBytes).array(); expectedNonceHash = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-256").digest(combined); } catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException e) { log.error("Error while validations iOS attestation: {}", e.getMessage(), e); return OptionalMethodResult.ofError(deviceBindError.getChallengeNotMatchedError()); } byte[] actualNonceFromCert; try { actualNonceFromCert = extractNonceFromAttestationCert(certificate); } catch (Exception e) { log.error("Error while extracting nonce from certificate: {}", e.getMessage(), e); return OptionalMethodResult.ofError(deviceBindError.getChallengeNotMatchedError()); } if (!Arrays.equals(expectedNonceHash, actualNonceFromCert)) { return OptionalMethodResult.ofError(deviceBindError.getChallengeNotMatchedError()); } return OptionalMethodResult.empty(); } But the values did not matched. What are we doing wrong here? Thanks.
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928
Sep ’25
Can't get user info more than once upon signin ?
Hi, I know it's been discussed before, but I'm testing the Sign in with Apple feature, and I only get the user info on the first try. Now, I know that you're supposed to go to the account settings, and look for the list of accounts that you used your Apple account to sign in with, and it used to work a few months back. But for the last few weeks I haven't been able to get the user info, even after deleting the entry from my Sign In With Apple app list. Has there been a recent change to Apple security policy that prevents such a move from working ? Or am I doing something wrong ? Thank you
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307
Feb ’25
Security of userID in Apple passkeys — how exposed is it?
I’m considering storing some sensitive information in the userID field of a passkey, as described in the createCredentialRegistrationRequest method.(link to method). I'm aware of the largeBlob extension introduced in iOS 17+, but it doesn't meet my needs since I want to create a cross-platform passkey that can be used across various devices — and currently, not many devices support the largeBlob extension. According to W3C documentation, the userID field is not considered private information and can be displayed to the user without requiring a verification process. Based on my understanding, it's also not encrypted, which means it might be accessible with physical access to the device. So here are my questions: How do Apple devices (especially iPhones) handle the userID field in their authenticators? Is it possible to access the userID without user verification, as permitted by the W3C specification? Are there any alternative methods to access the userID value stored in a passkey on Apple devices?
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124
Apr ’25
Persistent Privacy Notification Issue with Screen & Audio Access on macOS 15+
Hello Apple Developer Community, We have been experiencing a persistent notification issue in our application, Flowace, after updating to macOS 15 and above. The issue is affecting our customers but does not occur on our internal test machines. Issue Description When users share their screen using Flowace, they receive a repetitive system notification stating: "Flowace has accessed your screen and system audio XX times in the past 30 days. You can manage this in settings." This pop-up appears approximately every minute, even though screen sharing and audio access work correctly. This behavior was not present in macOS 15.1.1 or earlier versions and appears to be related to recent privacy enhancements in macOS. Impact on Users The frequent pop-ups disrupt workflows, making it difficult for users to focus while using screen-sharing features. No issues are detected in Privacy &amp; Security Settings, where Flowace has the necessary permissions. The issue is not reproducible on our internal test machines, making troubleshooting difficult. Our application is enterprise level and works all the time, so technically this pop only comes after a period of not using the app. Request for Assistance We would like to understand: Has anyone else encountered a similar issue in macOS 15+? Is there official Apple documentation explaining this new privacy behavior? Are there any interim fixes to suppress or manage these notifications? What are Apple's prospects regarding this feature in upcoming macOS updates? A demonstration of the issue can be seen in the following video: https://youtu.be/njA6mam_Bgw Any insights, workarounds, or recommendations would be highly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your help. Best, Anuj Patil Flowace Team
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77
Apr ’25
iPhone + Safari + Passwords violates WebAuthn spec when pubKeyCredParams doesn't contain ES256
WebAuthn Level 3 § 6.3.2 Step 2 states the authenticator must : Check if at least one of the specified combinations of PublicKeyCredentialType and cryptographic parameters in credTypesAndPubKeyAlgs is supported. If not, return an error code equivalent to "NotSupportedError" and terminate the operation. On my iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 18.5, Safari + Passwords does not exhibit this behavior; instead an error is not reported and an ES256 credential is created when an RP passes a non-empty sequence that does not contain {"type":"public-key","alg":-7} (e.g., [{"type":"public-key","alg":-8}]). When I use Chromium 138.0.7204.92 on my laptop running Arch Linux in conjunction with the Passwords app (connected via the "hybrid" protocol), a credential is not created and instead an error is reported per the spec.
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514
Jul ’25
How to Test Email Sharing Flow Again with Sign In with Apple, Using Same Apple ID?
I am developing an app that uses Sign In with Apple for authentication, and I need to test different scenarios, such as when a user chooses not to share their email. However, after logging in for the first time, I cannot reset the permissions flow to test again. Even after uninstalling the app, revoking access to the Apple ID in ‘Settings > Apps Using Apple ID,’ and attempting to log in again, only the token (identityToken) is returned, while the full information (email, name, surname) is no longer provided. This makes it difficult to simulate the initial user behavior, especially when choosing to share or not share their email. I would like to know: 1. Is there a way to completely reset the permissions flow so I can test as if it were the first time using the same Apple ID? 2. Are there any recommended solutions for development scenarios without needing to create multiple Apple IDs? Thank you for any guidance on how to proceed.
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364
Jan ’25