iOS Privacy Manifest help

ciccilleju · April 15, 2024, 7:15pm

Hello,
i’ve migrated my app to Capacitor v6 and everything seems to be fine,
the only problem i’m having is related to the privacy manifest code i should use with the following plugins:

capacitor/device

Found potentially required reason API usage 'volumeAvailableCapacityForImportantUsageKey' in 'node_modules/@capacitor/device/ios/Sources/DevicePlugin/Device.swift'
Line numbers: 42 
Found potentially required reason API usage 'systemFreeSize' in 'node_modules/@capacitor/device/ios/Sources/DevicePlugin/Device.swift'
Line numbers: 30 
Found potentially required reason API usage 'systemSize' in 'node_modules/@capacitor/device/ios/Sources/DevicePlugin/Device.swift'
Line numbers: 59

I use it to register my push notifications

but in the info it says i’m using it for “disk space reasons”, which is not my case I guess.
What code should I use in this case in the privacy info file?

the other plugin is
@capacitor-community/apple-sign-in/

Found potentially required reason API usage 'UserDefaults' in 'node_modules/@capacitor-community/apple-sign-in/ios/Plugin/Plugin.swift'

here i’ve used 85F4.1, is it fine?

thank you!

julio-ionic · April 16, 2024, 7:08am

Even if you don’t use the returned information the plugin is returning it, so you have to add the privacy manifest entry.

The docs are not available on the site yet, will be at some point today, but you can check the README.md of the plugins, they already contain the information

For device plugin
85F4.1 is recommended

For Preferences plugin, that uses UserDefaults, CA92.1 is recommended, I guess for @capacitor-community/apple-sign-in it should be the same.

ciccilleju · April 16, 2024, 7:19am

thank you Julio, precious as always!

hernyreg · April 16, 2024, 1:32pm

Is it also necessary to specific this 85F4.1 reason for the device plugin even if we don’t use getInfo() method in our app (we use other methods, like getLanguageTag())?

julio-ionic · April 16, 2024, 1:57pm

Most likely as I don’t think Apple engineers will test if your app is actually reaching that code, just checking that the code is present.

There is a request to remove the code, but would be breaking at this point, so probably won’t happen until Capacitor 7

github.com/ionic-team/capacitor-plugins

feat(@capacitor/device) Request to update device plugin to remove privacy-impacting APIs

opened 02:22AM - 03 Apr 24 UTC

Kevin-Hamilton

platform: ios type: feature request

## Feature Request ### Plugin device ### Description Starting May 1st …2024 Apple requires a PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy file to be added when specific functionality is used. The device plugin is using privacy impacting disk space APIs. APIs for accessing the available disk space require reasons for use. [For a detailed list of restricted APIs see here](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/privacy_manifest_files/describing_use_of_required_reason_api#4278397). There are 4 allowed reasons for accessing the available disk space, as summarized below: 1. (Reason Code 85F4.1) Declare this reason to display disk space information to the person using the device. 2. (Reason Code E174.1) Declare this reason to check whether there is sufficient disk space to write files, or to check whether the disk space is low so that the app can delete files when the disk space is low. 3. (Reason Code 7D9E.1) Declare this reason to include disk space information in an optional bug report that the person using the device chooses to submit. 4. (Reason Code B728.1) Declare this reason if your app is a health research app According to Apple policy: > [Your app] must declare one or more approved reasons that accurately reflect your use of each of these APIs and the data derived from their use. You may use these APIs and the data derived from their use for the declared reasons only. These declared reasons must be consistent with your app’s functionality as presented to users, and you may not use the APIs or derived data for tracking. Currently, the device plugin accesses the restricted volumeAvailableCapacityForImportantUsageKey API within the getRealFreeDiskSize function here: https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor-plugins/blob/0ccb9c48af9740a24f1f084e9417d5d5e2201311/device/ios/Sources/DevicePlugin/Device.swift#L40-L44 And the restricted systemFreeSize API within the getFreeDiskSize function here: https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor-plugins/blob/0ccb9c48af9740a24f1f084e9417d5d5e2201311/device/ios/Sources/DevicePlugin/Device.swift#L27-L32 And the restricted systemSize API within the getTotalDiskSize function here: https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor-plugins/blob/0ccb9c48af9740a24f1f084e9417d5d5e2201311/device/ios/Sources/DevicePlugin/Device.swift#L56-L61 These functions are all called from the getInfo function of the device plugin. If an app attempts to use the device plugin to access information such as model, platform, manufacturer, or isVirtual it also receives the restricted disk information, triggering the responsibility to declare one of the required reasons for accessing that disk information. ### Platform(s) iOS ### Preferred Solution I would prefer to have the restricted API calls moved to a separate function call, or new methods created to more granularly select what data the device plugin will return, so the app can avoid calling restricted APIs when trying to get non-restricted data. ### Alternatives I am not 100% clear on whether this is the case, but I am concerned about the possibility that an app could be flagged for the privacy-impacting APIs being compiled into the app, even if the API does not get called. This probably warrants testing to verify. If an app can be flagged for the disk space APIs just on the basis of the device plugin being installed even if the getInfo function is not called, then I would request an alternate plugin be made available which does not include these disk space APIs.