Each iPhone has a unique, device-specific i.d. that helps Apple and other companies track activity on the device. It’s called IDFA, Identity for Advertisers, and it’s like a cookie that you can’t delete, which makes it a very valuable advertising asset. Last summer, Apple announced that user privacy controls built into iOS 14 would explicitly ask you, for each app, whether to allow such tracking. Most commentators say the move effectively killed IDFA, because who’s going to say, “Yes! Please track me!”
When iOS 14 was released in September, Apple agreed to delay the IDFA opt-in requirement until “early next year.” As March marches toward a close, the tech world prepares for the change.
- Apple IDFA Survey: 38.5% Will Allow Mobile Apps To Track Them In iOS 14 [Forbes] “Over 60%, however, will not allow apps to track them, and that will decrease global ad personalization capability by 44% as soon as Apple releases the next version of its mobile operating system.”
- Zuckerberg: Facebook may actually be in a “stronger position” after Apple’s iOS 14 privacy changes [CNBC] “The change could benefit Facebook if more businesses decide to sell goods directly through Facebook and Instagram.”
- Apple Scores Legal Win in France Over App-Privacy Changes [Wall Street Journal] “The authority said, however, that it plans to pursue an in-depth investigation to determine whether Apple’s changes could be regarded as ‘self-preferencing’ by imposing stricter rules on third-party apps than it does on itself. “
- TikTok wants to keep tracking iPhone users with state-backed workaround [Ars Technica] “The big picture is that there is simply too much money at stake. There will always be an arms race to track consumers. Only legislation can make it stop.”
From the Ohio Web Library:
- Shields, Ronan. “Apple Changes the Privacy Game.” Adweek, vol. 61, no. 19, Sept. 2020, pp. 4–5.
- Garfinkel, Simson L. “Anonymous Tracking.” Technology Review, vol. 114, no. 4, July 2011, p. 65.
- Bloomberg, Kurt Wagner. “Facebook Fears Apple IOS 14 Will Hurt Ad Business.” Toronto Star (Canada), 27 Aug. 2020.
