Apple announces new privacy notifications will roll out in ‘early spring’

(Reuters) – Apple Inc said on Thursday that new privacy pop-up notifications would start appearing on most iPhones as early as “early spring,” a requirement that large digital advertising companies such as Facebook Inc have warned would hurt their companies.

One-off notifications will force the app developer to request a user’s permission before the app tracks its activities “on other companies’ apps and websites.” Digital advertising experts believe that the warning will cause many users to deny permission.

Apple announced the move last June, but said in September it would delay the change to give digital advertisers more time to adjust.

Facebook said in December that it plans to show the pop-up notification because it doesn’t want Apple iPhone users to lose access to its apps.

In an earnings call Wednesday, Facebook executives told investors the change could start to hurt the company’s first-quarter revenue, with chief executive Mark Zuckerberg accusing Apple of “having a vested interest in using it. their dominance on the platform to interfere with the way our apps and other apps work. “

Apple revealed on Wednesday that it has an active installed base of 1.65 billion devices, including more than one billion iPhones, with 620 million paying subscribers on its devices.

For its part, Alphabet Inc’s Google announced on Tuesday that it would cease practices, including the use of a tracking ID provided by Apple, which would force it to display the warning, thereby avoiding it.

Apple said it is offering an alternative technology for free that will help advertisers attribute paid clicks and taps without engaging in what Apple considers tracking.

Google said on Tuesday it was proactively working with Apple to improve the alternative offering.

Apple said on Wednesday that it will roll out new tools such as a way to attribute clicks on video ads.