Third-party SDKs comply with privacy requirements
Why it matters
GDPR Art. 28 requires a Data Processing Agreement with every third-party vendor that processes personal data on your behalf. Apple's Privacy Manifest requirement (since May 2024) means that any third-party SDK accessing protected APIs must be declared — if the SDK is not in your iOS privacy manifest, Apple rejects the submission. Google Play Data Safety requires disclosure of every SDK that collects or shares data, including the data types and purposes. An SDK that is configured to collect aggressively (e.g., full session replay, uncapped event logging) without a user-facing opt-out mechanism can create CCPA violations independently of your own app's consent UI — the SDK acts on your behalf, and its data collection is attributed to you.
Severity rationale
Medium because an undisclosed data-handling SDK creates Google Play Data Safety inaccuracies and GDPR Art. 28 violations, but exploitation requires the SDK to actually transmit data — not merely be present in dependencies.
Remediation
Audit every entry in package.json that handles user data and verify each is declared in your Google Play Data Safety form and iOS Privacy Manifest. Gate aggressive features behind consent checks.
// Gate third-party SDK initialization behind consent
const consent = await AsyncStorage.getItem('gdpr_consent')
if (consent === 'accepted') {
// Enable full analytics
Analytics.init({ sessionReplay: true, eventSampling: 1.0 })
Crashlytics.setCrashlyticsCollectionEnabled(true)
} else {
// Minimal or disabled
Analytics.init({ sessionReplay: false, eventSampling: 0 })
Crashlytics.setCrashlyticsCollectionEnabled(false)
}
Check each SDK's privacy manifest documentation: Firebase, Amplitude, Segment, and Braze all publish the required NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypeReasons codes you must include in ios/PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy.
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the Mobile Permissions & Privacy Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
External references
- gdpr · Art. 28 — Processor obligations
- external · apple-privacy-manifest — Apple Privacy Manifest Files — third-party SDK requirements
- external · google-play-data-safety — Google Play Data Safety section requirements
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from mobile-permissions-privacy·automated