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Internet Access Policy
What is an Internet Access Policy?

What is an Internet Access Policy?

In a nutshell – an Internet Access Policy (IAP) is a document, that allows software vendors to declare and describe the Internet usage of their programs.

It is comparable to a Privacy Policy. While the latter describes in clear text which personal data is processed, stored and passed on, the IAP describes in machine readable form which Internet connections a program creates and for what purpose.

Benefits for users

Benefits for users

  • Information about an app’s possible Internet connections.
  • Assistance with the configuration of your firewall.

As a user you certainly value the protection of your privacy. So you understandably want to know where a program connects to on the Internet, what data it sends, and for what purpose.

The IAP now offers you the opportunity to learn more about the connection behavior of the programs you use.

Screenshot of a Little Snitch connection alert showing IAP information
Display of IAP information in Little Snitch

Especially when using firewall software like Little Snitch the IAP helps you determine whether and why a particular Internet connection is necessary, and what possible consequences blocking this connection can have.

And with Internet Access Policy Viewer you can see at a glance which of your apps are already equipped with an IAP.

Benefits for app developers

Benefits for app developers

  • Increase customer’s trust in your products.
  • Prevent customer’s concerns about your app’s Internet connections.

If you are a software developer, you’re likely to face an increasing privacy awareness of your users. You may have already been confronted with requests from concerned customers who wanted to know why your application connects to a particular server on the Internet.

The IAP now offers you the opportunity to make this information transparent by enclosing a policy file in your app bundle. By disclosing this information, you are showing that you take your customers’ desire for privacy seriously. And as a result, you can dispel possible concerns of your users and increase confidence in your product.

Firewall software can also access this machine-readable, digitally signed information to offer the user additional support in configuring the firewall settings, and thus ensure that your program continues to work properly.

If you want to add an IAP to your application, please check out the Technical Documentation of the Internet Access Policy.

Third party adoption

A growing number of third party applications already provide an Internet Access Policy. Here are just a few:

1Password
1Password
iA Writer
iA Writer
Scrivener
Scrivener
BBEdit
BBEdit
Bear
Bear
UlyssesMac
UlyssesMac
Fantastical
Fantastical
Quiet
Quiet
Texty
Texty
Secretive
Secretive
Acorn
Acorn
Carbon Copy Cloner
Carbon Copy Cloner
Cardhop
Cardhop
Fork
Fork
iStat Menus
iStat Menus
MindNode
MindNode
SuperDuper!
SuperDuper!
Duplicate File Finder
Duplicate File Finder
Funter
Funter
App Cleaner & Uninstaller
App Cleaner & Uninstaller
Disk Space Analyzer
Disk Space Analyzer
MacCleaner Pro
MacCleaner Pro
Memory Cleaner
Memory Cleaner
MoneyMoney
MoneyMoney
Royal TSX
Royal TSX
Macs Fan Control
Macs Fan Control
QR Factory
QR Factory
PDF Protector
PDF Protector
LaunchBar
LaunchBar
Airtool
Airtool
Balance Lock
Balance Lock
BetterZip
BetterZip
GPG Suite
GPG Suite
Mail Archiver X
Mail Archiver X
MoneyWiz 3
MoneyWiz 3
Network Radar
Network Radar
Observatory
Observatory
Power Manager
Power Manager
Router
Router
Stream Deck
Stream Deck
AirBuddy
AirBuddy
Balthisar Tidy
Balthisar Tidy
Bartender
Bartender
Bill Boss
Bill Boss
Codebook
Codebook
Dictionaries
Dictionaries
Disk Diet
Disk Diet
iNet
iNet
Keka
Keka
KeyKey
KeyKey
KeyShade
KeyShade
Little Snitch
Little Snitch
Move!
Move!
NeoFinder
NeoFinder
PaintCode
PaintCode
Patternodes
Patternodes
Paw
Paw
PDF Squeezer
PDF Squeezer
Rocket Typist
Rocket Typist
Scapple
Scapple
Sequence Diagram
Sequence Diagram
Slik
Slik
Sourcetree
Sourcetree
Storyist
Storyist
Subs Factory
Subs Factory
Suspicious Package
Suspicious Package
TableFlip
TableFlip
TG Pro
TG Pro
The Archive
The Archive
Tyme
Tyme
Type.World
Type.World
Unclutter
Unclutter
Vectoraster
Vectoraster
WiFi Explorer
WiFi Explorer
Wipr
Wipr
WordCounter
WordCounter

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