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Apple’s new privacy feature requiring developers to request permission to track iOS users for ad targeting is finally live in the upcoming iOS 14 beta with a full release expected this spring for non-users. beta, the company says. The edge.
The announcement coincides with Data Protection Day, as well as a privacy speech by Apple CEO Tim Cook later today at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference. data in Brussels. Apple originally planned for the feature to go live with the launch of iOS 14 last fall, but it postponed its implementation until 2021 in September last year to give developers more time to comply. . Today’s announcement narrows the launch window to this spring, but Apple doesn’t comment further on when exactly we might see it go live for everyone.
Called App Tracking Transparency, the new acceptance requirement will mark a significant change in the way mobile app developers can collect data on iPhone owners and share that data with other businesses to facilitate advertising. Before the change, Apple allowed iPhone owners to dig into their settings to turn off this type of tracking. Now, instead of forcing users to be proactive to turn it off, Apple will ask developers to request permission or risk suspension or removal from the App Store if they don’t comply or try to circumvent the rules. .
The main way that advertisers can, for example, know when you’re shopping for a new hat on one app before showing you ads for that same hat on another app is through a unique ID code, the so-called Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), is linked to your device, collected by the first application and shared with the second. This allows these apps to serve targeted ads and measure whether the ad actually worked, for example whether you ended up buying the hat you saw in an Instagram ad by clicking on an ad for the online store of the company in Google Chrome.
Apple’s new acceptance requirement will require developers to have express consent from owners of iOS devices to allow their IDFA to be collected and shared between apps. App makers may still use other information you provide to them for the purpose of targeting advertising, even if you choose not to let the app track you, but that information cannot be shared with any other company. for ad tracking purposes in accordance with Apple’s new policy. Sharing with other third-party companies is what Apple actually refers to when it uses the word “tracking”.
Apple intends to strictly control any attempt to circumvent the acceptance requirement. For example, it states that app developers will not be allowed to disable app features of any kind if users say no to the opt-in, nor will developers be allowed to opt-in. allowed to charge money or induce users with in-app benefits or gifts. their decision one way or the other. Any application that attempts to replace IDFA with another identifying information, such as an email address, will violate the acceptance requirement.
Apple says the rules will also apply to its own apps, and the company already allows users to opt out of the personalized advertising it serves in the App Store, Apple News, and the Stocks app using data it uses. collection on your device. (It should be noted that ad personalization is not the same as ad tracking, and mobile app companies can still personalize ads as long as they can disclose them with an App Store privacy label. Apple has no history of sharing the information it collects with other businesses either, and this clearly shows in its ad personalization in iOS settings.
This should affect both companies that run ad networks, like Facebook, and companies that pay for ads, like the aforementioned no-name hat vendor. This is precisely why Facebook has proven to be arguably the biggest opponent of Apple’s new privacy measures, which include not only this new acceptance requirement, but also the privacy labels of applications launched on the App. Store last month.
Facebook has positioned itself as a champion for small businesses at risk of being hurt by this privacy change, and small businesses rely on Facebook’s ad network and its powerful targeting tools to reach customers. Apple’s past mobile Safari browser privacy changes have also had legitimate negative consequences for ad-supported businesses like news websites. (The edge is an ad-supported news website.)
But in full-page newspaper ads and press statements, Facebook has gone further and called Apple a hypocrite trying to evade the rules it imposes on other developers and eager to encourage the business models of applications that rely less on advertising. and more on subscriptions, of which Apple would theoretically get a discount.
“Apple has every interest in using its dominant position on the platform to interfere with the functioning of our apps and other applications, which they regularly do to prefer theirs,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday. “This has an impact on the growth of millions of businesses around the world, including with the upcoming changes to iOS 14.” Zuckerberg added, “Apple can say they are doing this to help people, but the movements are clearly following the interests of their competition.”
Apple has consistently defended its choice as a way to give users more freedom over their privacy and has refuted Facebook’s claims that it intends to maintain its proprietary software to different standards. The showdown has become one of the largest and most visible tech company feuds in recent memory, although it’s now clear that Facebook has little to no influence over the situation despite its defensive stance and his public posture. The changes are imminent and Facebook will be forced to adhere to privacy labels as it did last month.
To further delve into its privacy philosophy, Apple has created a new online guide called “A Day in the Life of Your Data” that breaks down common ad tracking and targeting practices in the mobile app and web industries and presents statistics on the prevalence of these practices. Apple says the average mobile app contains six trackers that share your data with other apps, and that a “large and opaque industry is accumulating more and more personal data.”
“A complex ecosystem of websites, apps, social media companies, data brokers and ad technology companies follow users online and offline, harvesting their personal data. This data is gathered, shared, aggregated and monetized, fueling a $ 227 billion per year industry, ”the guide reads. “It happens every day, as people go about their daily lives, often without their knowledge or permission.”
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