The Inside Scoop on Apple’s iOS Privacy Changes
For ordinary iPhone users, updating your iOS software doesn’t consist of much more than hitting download and scoring a handful of new emojis. But if you work at Facebook, Google or any other enterprise that relies heavily on digital advertising to make bank, you took note of the rollout of Ad Tracking Transparency (ATT) and acted fast.
Released via iOS 14.5 on April 26, 2021, ATT is a new privacy leadership initiative pioneered by Apple under CEO Tim Cook. The development grants iPhone owners greater control over how much—or little—third-party apps can track their activity through Apple’s built-in monitoring system, Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), or external methods.
According to The Verge, opting out of IDFA-based tracking was always a freedom hidden in your device’s settings. But the new update “puts the choice front and center” and makes it easier than ever to toggle off. In place of automatic tracking, apps are now mandated to prompt your screen (when you open them for the first time post-update) with a pop-up that looks like this:
The change has stirred contention across the tech landscape. Vox says ATT is “considered a major win” for privacy rights advocates and is increasing general awareness of the intricate monitoring embedded in everyday internet use. However, ATT can also restrict advertisers from collecting info about customers in order to advance their target ads, which poses a threat to social media giants like Facebook and Instagram. Last year, Facebook stood up against Cook through a hefty campaign framing iOS’s new move as an attack on small businesses—a protest that op-eds were quick to label as performative and self-interested.
Clicking “Ask App Not to Track” will prohibit the developer from monitoring your app data— whether through Apple’s IDFA or their own tracking tools—and selling that data to networks, companies and data brokers. Apple has made it clear that apps cannot find loopholes and are “required to respect your choice beyond the advertising identifier.” Adweek predicted the U.S.’s $150 billion mobile-ad industry to take a hit when a large enough population disables tracking.
While increased privacy may not directly translate to decreased ad results, according to Magneti, businesses dependent on Facebook advertising ought to pay attention to any impact on their ad retargeting, measurement and reporting. Targeting user demographics and actions, conversion tracking and cost-per-click/result prices will be affected, too.
What can you do? Conducting independent research on your audience’s behaviors—rather than counting on web algorithms to do the work for you—is a solid first step. Magneti points out that Apple’s recent changes “make it more important than ever to own that information yourself.”
