Governments spying on Apple, Google users through push notifications - US senator

I don’t think this is surprising, but it’s now “official” that because push notifications from iOS and Android all have to go via Apple and Google it means that those companies are in a position to know which users are getting which notifications. And thus also to provide that info to people that ask them for it.

…the records that governments can obtain from Apple and Google include metadata that reveals which apps a person has used, when they’ve received notifications, and the phone associated with a particular Google or Apple account.

Several government agencies, both inside and outside of the US, have successfully requested this info. Apple claims that until Senator Wyden brought this topic up they were forbidden from sharing any information about their ability to do this, let alone how often it happened.