Apple has discreetly updated its legal guidelines. Now, the company requires U.S. law enforcement agencies to obtain a court order first before gaining access to specific aspects of Apple customer data.
According to Apple's updated guidelines, the company will only release customer data about push notifications with law enforcement "in response to a search warrant issued upon a showing of probable cause, or customer consent."
Apple previously accepted a subpoena to hand over customer data. The critical difference between the two is that a subpoena requires the company to act in response to a request for information.
On the other hand, a search warrant is more aggressive because it "authorizes a legal authority to take action to retrieve the information."
