Apple Responds To Controversy Surrounding MacOS Big Sur Launch

Apple Inc AAPL has detailed the steps it intends to take on a number of preventive fixes for the MacOS over the course of next year in a document, as first spotted by Rene Ritchie.

What Happened: Users who upgraded to the latest version of macOS, the Big Sur, faced setbacks when trying to open third-party apps. The issue was later on traced to a security feature known as “Gatekeeper.”

The gatekeeper feature authenticates security certificates from apps to prevent disguised malicious apps from launching on the device. However, the gatekeeper bug that prevents third-party apps from running on Big Sur raised questions on whether the trillion-dollar tech giant is recording its customer's app usage data.

“We have never combined data from these checks with information about Apple users or their devices. We do not use data from these checks to learn what individual users are launching or running on their devices,” Apple said in a statement.

The iPhone maker also clarified that these security features did not log the user’s Apple ID or any device information. Users will also have the option to skip these security checks.

The iPhone maker has also agreed to remove all recorded IP addresses retrospectively, including the ones collected in the past when verifying security certificates with Developer ID.

Why Does It Matter: In February this year, Apple was fined €25 million by a French authority for consumer protection over an iPhone operating systems update. The regulatory entity penalized Apple for not informing customers that the iPhone OS update could slow down older models.

Last week, the iPhone maker unveiled the next generation of its Mac computers, boasting that its revolutionary M1Chip, a silicon chip specifically designed for Mac, will drive Big Sur’s improved performance, longer battery life, and enhanced security features.

Price Action: Apple shares gained marginally by 0.04% in Friday’s trading session to close at $119.26.