How to verify that ID Guard Offline does not steal data in iOS?

November 20, 2021

ID Guard Offline does not connect to the Internet, or require sign-up, or collect personal information. The data users saved into our app is only stored on their phones. The app does not secretly upload their data to our servers.

Well, every company says that they try their best to protect user data:

You don't believe them, do you?

ID Guard Offline is different. Our data protection technologies are verifiable. We tell users how we protect the data and how users can verify it.

About a year ago, we shared a post explaining how to verify if ID Guard Offline is true offline. Right here 👉 How do I know the app does not upload my passwords to the cloud secretly?. Before iOS 13, in-app purchases in iOS work just like the Google Play service: apps do not need to access the Internet. But since iOS 13, apps have to connect to the Internet when performing in-app purchases.

in-app-purchase

ios13

Although we reported this issue to Apple a few times after that, they didn't fix it yet.

However, when God closes a door, he opens a window.

There is a new feature in the latest iOS 15 system - Record App Activity. We can use this feature to verify that ID Guard Offline does not secretly upload data to the cloud.

Let me show you how to use it.

  1. Enable Record App Activity. Settings -> Privacy -> Record App Activity -> Turn on
  2. Open ID Guard Offline. Add a new account, open the camera to scan QR code, etc.
  3. Save Activity and Export. Here need a third-party app, like Privacy Insights.

At the end of the video, you can see that the app only visited Apple's website inappcheck.itunes.apple.com but nothing else.

All the apps that use Apple's in-app purchase will automatically connect to Apple's website to be checked.

You can use the same way to check what websites other apps will access. It might surprise you 😏