One of our core founding principles is that you own your data and retain full control over how it's used. As we get closer to launch, we'll write a formal document describing this further, and we commit to writing it without a lot of legalese that makes it impossible to understand our true intent, like many companies do.
In order to power the functionality of apps in our app store, they'll need to access some of your data. The data required will depend on the app's needs, and we'll use the principle of least privilege in our relationship with apps. That means they will explicitly request permission to certain data, and you'll need to approve such access as part of installing the app. The app is limited to the data you share with it and no more. In addition, you'll have tools to monitor how the app is using your data, and the ability to revoke access at any time by uninstalling the app.
We'll never do this.
We feel so strongly about this that we put it directly into our corporate charter, affirming our resolve to always ask your permission before sharing your data.
We view ourselves as stewards of your data. We maintain the systems that keep your data secure on your behalf. We look after it with your permission, but will never use it in a way that you don't approve.
Snowpack