What it means
The privacy manifest is a property list with fixed keys. Typical mistakes: a hand-edited file that no longer parses, a category name misspelled, a reason code invented or copied from another category, or an empty reasons array. The faulty file often belongs to a third-party bundle, not to the app.
The store check validates every manifest in the IPA against Apple's categories and reason codes. It also notes, as info, an app bundle without a manifest at its root: Apple only requires one when the app's own code uses required reason APIs.
Deadline
No date of its own: an invalid manifest is reported on upload.
How to fix it
1. Open the file named in the e-mail
plutil -lint Payload/MyApp.app/Frameworks/Foo.framework/PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy
plutil -p Payload/MyApp.app/Frameworks/Foo.framework/PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy2. Use only Apple's categories and codes
Each NSPrivacyAccessedAPIType must be one of the five categories, and each code in NSPrivacyAccessedAPITypeReasons must belong to that category in Apple's list. Edit the file with Xcode's property list editor rather than by hand.
3. Upgrade the SDK when the file is not yours
A broken manifest inside a framework comes from its provider: update to a fixed release.
Check before you submit
Upload the IPA on the store check page. It runs APPSTORE-PRIVACY-MANIFEST against the dates on this page, then deletes the file: nothing about the app is kept. The same engine runs offline in the Narvy CLI, and exits with code 1 when a blocker is found, so it can gate a CI job.
narvy store-check MyApp.ipaFAQ
Is a missing PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy at the app root an error?
Only when the app's own code uses required reason APIs (see ITMS-91053). Otherwise Apple recommends it but does not reject its absence, so the store check reports it as info.
Can a valid plist still be rejected?
Yes, if a key or value is not one Apple defines. Parsing is not enough: compare categories and codes with Apple's list, which the store check does.