Apple shifting ahead on app privateness, regardless of pushback
Issued on: 25/04/2021 – 05:38Modified: 25/04/2021 – 05:36
San Francisco (AFP)
An update to the software, which powers around one billion iPhones around the world, will be launched on Monday with an expanded data protection feature that critics fear will mess up the world of internet advertising.
Apple is asking app makers to let users know what tracking information they want to collect and get permission to do so. So-called “data protection nutrition labels” are displayed.
Apple’s move, which has been in the works for months, has sparked a major conflict with Facebook and other tech competitors and could have a significant impact on privacy and the mobile ecosystem.
Digital ads are the lifeblood of internet giants like Google and Facebook and are paid for for the cornucopia of free online content and services.
An update to the iOS software for iPhone, iPad and iPod devices introduces an “App Tracking Transparency Framework” that prevents apps from tracking users or accessing device identification information without permission.
“If you don’t get user permission to enable tracking, the device’s advertising identifier value will be all zeros and you may not be able to track it,” Apple said in an online message to developers this week.
According to Apple, the requirement, which some developers adopted early on, will apply to all iOS apps from Monday.
– ‘Change agent’ –
Eric Seufert, analyst and strategist at Mobile Dev Memo, said Apple’s new framework could “turn the app economy on its head” along with digital advertising in general, calling the new policy a “change agent”.
Seufert said in a blog post: “It is impossible to dismiss the fact that digital advertising on mobile devices is driven by what Apple defines as” tracking. “To explicitly remove this activity from the ecosystem, the operating model must change for mobile devices. “
With more than a billion iOS devices in active use worldwide, a change in the mobile operating system that could potentially affect the effectiveness of digital displays could be significant.
Platforms like Facebook or Google that rely on advertising are usually only paid when someone takes an action, e.g. B. Clicking on a marketing message.
Ads that are made irrelevant because less is known about users can mean fewer clicks and, in a broader sense, less revenue.
Mobile apps and the Internet in general have evolved with free information, games, directions, and more. Ads make money to keep data centers running and generate profits.
While some people using iPhones may give permission for tracking, marketers fear that many will opt for privacy.
During an earnings call earlier this year, Facebook warned that Apple’s change to the mobile operating system is likely to make it harder to target ads.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the conference call that with its rival smartphone messaging service and tight access to the App Store, the only gateway to iPhones, Apple is becoming one of its company’s biggest competitors.
“Apple has every incentive to use its dominant platform position to interfere with the way our apps and other apps work, which they regularly do to favor their own,” Zuckerberg said.
“Apple might say they are doing this to help people, but the steps are clearly in their competitive interests.”
The social networking giant has argued that the iPhone maker’s new data collection and targeted advertising measures would hurt small businesses.
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, defended the move, saying in a recent interview: “The principle is that the person should be in control of whether or not they are being tracked. Who has their data?”
Apps can still show “contextual ads” based on user activity during the sessions and keep the insights to themselves.
Advances in artificial intelligence and data analysis should help platforms, and thus advertisers, to use less data about users, said Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi.
“Advertisers still need to be relevant to people without chasing them. That’s good for the consumer and good for the brands,” said Milanesi.
“I think Apple is right. Transparency is always something we should strive for.”
© 2021 AFP
