Privacy Manifests

Apple privacy manifests (PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy) and required-reason APIs — declaring tracking, tracking domains, collected data types, and the gated APIs your binary calls. Enforced at upload to App Store Connect: a missing or wrong declaration is a hard rejection, not a warning. The deep reference — exact plist structure, every category, the real reason codes, SDK signature rules, the privacy report — lives in references/guide.md. This file is the decision and discipline layer: read it first, open the guide for specifics.

Dials

Set these explicitly at the start; they change what "correct" means.

1. SCOPE — app-only (you only declare your own app's manifest) · app+sdks (default; you also confirm every embedded framework/SDK on Apple's commonly-used list ships its own valid, signed manifest — you cannot declare on their behalf).
2. TRACKING — none (NSPrivacyTracking false, no tracking domains) · tracking-declared (NSPrivacyTracking true + non-empty NSPrivacyTrackingDomains + ATT requested and honored).
3. APIS — declare-reasons (every required-reason API the binary calls has its category + an exact, approved reason code; if no approved reason fits, the code changes — there is no "declare anyway").

When to use

Authoring or reviewing any PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy, debugging an ITMS-91053/91054/91055/91056 rejection, deciding which required-reason API reason code applies, vetting whether an embedded SDK needs its own manifest, or preparing the privacy report before submission. Use it any time an iOS/iPadOS/tvOS/watchOS/visionOS app is about to ship.

Core rules