Apple will require apps to ask permission to track users from next iOS 14 beta

Apple today announced that its App Tracking Transparency privacy measure will be required starting with the next beta versions of iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and tvOS 14. Apple says software updates will be released in early spring.

This requirement was originally scheduled to go into effect last September, but Apple has been slow to give developers more time to prepare.

With this change, all iPhone, iPad and Apple TV app developers will need to receive a user’s permission to track their activity on other apps and websites and access their device’s known random advertising identifier. under the name of Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), for advertising purposes or to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Users will be prompted with options to “Allow Tracking” or “Ask App Not to Track” when opening apps that want to track their activity. Developers have already been able to add the prompt to follow to their apps in previous versions of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and tvOS 14, using the App Tracking Transparency framework, but this was not required and few applications implemented the prompt on purpose.

If a user selects “Ask app not to track”, Apple will prevent the app developer from accessing the user’s IDFA. The developer is also required to respect the user’s tracking preferences in general, which means that they cannot use other methods to track the user, otherwise their app could be deleted from the App Store, according to Apple.

Users can manage their tracking preferences app by app in the Settings app under Privacy> Tracking on iOS 14.

A handful of ad networks and businesses have criticized Apple’s move, including Facebook, which ran full-page newspaper ads and launched a website claiming Apple’s tracking change would hurt financially. to small businesses.

“We don’t agree with Apple’s approach and solution, but we have no choice but to display Apple’s prompt,” Facebook said. “If we don’t, they’ll block Facebook from the App Store, which would only further harm the people and businesses that depend on our services. We cannot take this risk on behalf of the millions of businesses that use our platform to grow. “

The nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation called Facebook’s criticism “laughable,” saying Facebook’s campaign against Apple is really about “what Facebook stands to lose if its users learn more about what itself and other data brokers are doing it behind the scenes. Firefox maker Mozilla also backed Apple’s move, calling it “a big win for consumers.”

Google has not publicly attacked Apple’s decision, but in a blog post yesterday, the company warned developers that they could see a “significant impact” on their Google ad revenue on iOS once the requirement transparency of application tracking will begin. Google also said it will stop collecting IDFAs in its iOS apps so that it does not have to present users with Apple’s tracking permission prompt in those apps.

Apple’s position is that users deserve control and transparency.

“We think it’s just about standing up for our users,” Apple said, adding that “users should know when their data is being collected and shared on other apps and websites – and they should have a choice of to allow it or not. “

Apple’s announcement is timed with Data Privacy Day. Apple commemorated the day by sharing “A Day in the Life of Your Data,” a PDF report that explains how third-party companies track user data on websites and apps, highlights Apple’s privacy principles and provides more details on the transparency of application tracking.

Apple CEO Tim Cook will speak on data privacy today at the Brussels-based PCs, Privacy and Data Protection conference. Cook is scheduled to speak at 8:15 a.m. PT, and a live broadcast will be available on YouTube.