Can personal information be taken from creatorUserRecordID in a CKrecord?

Question

Created 2w

Replies 3

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I am using cloudkit to save users high scores in a public database. The preference over using Game Center is because of simplicity and works really well for what I want to achieve. I simply want to let users know their global position. Because of data privacy laws the app asks the user for their permission to submit their score each time they get a new high score. However, I have noticed that CKRecords under 'created' and 'modified' in addition to UTC time and date also contain creatorUserRecordID. Could this be a privacy issue? Can you extract any personal information from this? Can this be used to track back to the user? Is it linked to CKUserIdentity which I understand does contain personal information, although as I understand you need users consent to get this information. Under creatorUserRecordID it says... "Every user of the app has a unique user record that is empty by default. Apps can add data to the user record on behalf of the user, but don’t store sensitive data in it"

Currently I simply ask the user if they are happy to submit their score. But do I need to point out that it also stores a creatorUserRecordID? Obviously I don't want to do this if it is not needed as the user will 1) Probably not understand what a creatorUserRecordID is and 2) It makes the question complicated and will likely make most people refuse to submit their score.

If it is a privacy issue, is there anyway to stop a CKRecord creating this ID and simply save a score? All I need is a list of scores so the app can determine their current position.

If creatorUserRecordID does not contain any personal details and cannot be tracked back to the user please let me know, so I can be reassured that my current set up is fine and I am not causing any privacy issues!

This post did seem to indicate you may possibly be able to fetch personal details?? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/55782166/how-do-i-fetch-any-info-about-user-that-modified-ckrecord

Answered by DTS Engineer in 829093022

creatorUserRecordID is a system-created ID tied to a CloudKit container. Back to the earlier day, CKContainer had APIs for discovering user records if the users meet some criteria – For example, they must be in the current user’s on-device Contacts database, and have granted the userDiscoverability permission for the container.

Those APIs were deprecated years ago, as you can see from the link mentioned above, and so there is no API today that can discover the user identify represented by creatorUserRecordID. Given that, I don't see any obvious privacy risk when using the ID.

CloudKit needs creatorUserRecordID for access control, and so there is no way to prevent the system from creating it. If you would really like to avoid that,maybe consider using NSUbiquitousKeyValueStore, which allows you to store a maximum of 1024 keys (and per-key value size is limited to 1 MB), and doesn't expose any CKRecord.

Best,
——
Ziqiao Chen
 Worldwide Developer Relations.

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Answer 1

Guitarman4 OP

2w

Further to above. I have subsequently tried lots of ways and it seems impossible to extract any personal information from creatorUserRecordID without permission granted by the user, or if the cloudkit is set up as shared use. So I am assuming creatorUserRecordID is a not a privacy issue or classified as data collection because it is simply part of cloudkit infrastructure but basically a dead reference without user permission. So the reference that says "Every user of the app has a unique user record that is empty by default. Apps can add data to the user record on behalf of the user, but don’t store sensitive data in it" means the creatorUserRecordID is just a ID created for that user especially for that container and is not linked to their device or personal details unless the user grants the creatorUserRecordID to gain access to their CKUserIdentity. So if permission is not given the creatorUserRecordID is basically just a random reference that only the user has control over. If someone more expert than me could clarify if this is correct it would be most useful, so that I can simply ask the user if they are happy to submit their score, without any further concern over data collection or privacy. Thank you

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Answer 2

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

2w

Accepted Answer

creatorUserRecordID is a system-created ID tied to a CloudKit container. Back to the earlier day, CKContainer had APIs for discovering user records if the users meet some criteria – For example, they must be in the current user’s on-device Contacts database, and have granted the userDiscoverability permission for the container.

Those APIs were deprecated years ago, as you can see from the link mentioned above, and so there is no API today that can discover the user identify represented by creatorUserRecordID. Given that, I don't see any obvious privacy risk when using the ID.

CloudKit needs creatorUserRecordID for access control, and so there is no way to prevent the system from creating it. If you would really like to avoid that,maybe consider using NSUbiquitousKeyValueStore, which allows you to store a maximum of 1024 keys (and per-key value size is limited to 1 MB), and doesn't expose any CKRecord.

Best,
——
Ziqiao Chen
 Worldwide Developer Relations.

1

Answer 3

Guitarman4 OP

2w

Thanks. That all makes sense And reassuring to know as my current set up is working well for my needs. Thank you

0