Apple has a plan to punish apps that don’t comply with the new privacy feature
Apple on Tuesday threatened to remove apps from its widely used App Store if they did not comply with an upcoming private feature that allows users to block advertisers from following them in different apps.
The new feature, dubbed App Tracking Transparency, was originally slated to debut this year, but has been delayed to give developers more time to make changes to their apps and fix privacy concerns.
Some tech companies and advertisers, such as Facebook, have criticized the planned change, saying it could disproportionately harm small developers such as game companies.
But Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering at Apple, said users should know when they’re being tracked across different apps and websites.
“At the start of next year, we will start requiring that all apps that wish to do so have explicit permission from their users, and developers who do not meet this standard can have their apps removed from the App Store,” he told the European Conference on Data Protection and Privacy.
The new feature will require a pop-up notification that the app “would like permission to follow you on apps and websites owned by other companies.” Digital advertising companies expect most users to refuse to grant this permission.
When invasive tracking is your business model, you tend not to welcome transparency and customer choice, said Federighi, dismissing criticism of the new feature.
We need the world to see these arguments for what they are: a brazen attempt to maintain the privacy-invasive status quo.
Facebook and Google are the biggest among thousands of companies that follow consumers online to learn about their habits and interests and deliver relevant ads to them.
Apple itself came under fire last month when an Austrian privacy group, led by activist Max Schrems, filed a complaint with data protection watchdogs in Germany and Spain, alleging that an online tracking tool used in its devices violated European law. Apple denied the charge, calling it “factually inaccurate”.
Federighi said the industry will adapt to deliver effective advertising without invasive tracking.
Getting it right will take time, collaboration, listening – and true partnership across the tech ecosystem. But we believe the outcome will be transformative.
