Apple to Release New Privacy Restrictions
Contributed by: kellyseal on Monday, April 26 2021 @ 07:19 am
Last modified on Monday, April 26 2021 @ 07:27 am
Apple announced in early April that it will soon be rolling out its new privacy notification for users who download any app from its store. The company didn’t give a specific launch date but said that it would happen “in the coming weeks” according to Reuters.
Apple has created a one-time notice that requires an app developer to ask for the user’s consent before the app is able to track personal data and share it with third parties, according to Reuters[*1] . CEO Tim Cook described the notification in a podcast with tech journalist Kara Swisher, saying it will appear as a short checklist of how the app will use data, to make it easier and more transparent than sifting through the standard pages-long privacy policies that most people do not read.
Digital advertisers and app developers are worried that the notification would cause many more users to decline permissions.
The move by Apple is to give users more control over where their personal information goes – data like location, age, sexual preferences and other information that might be requested from an app. Often, this information is shared with and used by third parties, typically advertisers, to better target campaigns.
Larger companies like Facebook and Match Group are not happy with the move from Apple, saying that this will hurt their revenue and sales numbers. Smaller app developers are also concerned because the Apple Store is the only way for users of iOS devices to download their apps. This allows Apple more power to restrict the app companies’ revenue sources. Earlier this year Facebook filed a joint antitrust lawsuit with such powerhouses as Riot Games against Apple’s hold on the app market.
Selling data to third parties is a huge source of revenue for app companies. Social media platforms like Facebook and dating app companies like Match Group offer their apps free of charge for basic services in order to get people to sign up and use them. Most people don’t realize in the sign-up process how much personal data they will be giving away, or even that this data is sold to and used by third parties.
According to Reuters, Apple is providing developers with alternative advertising tools to address some of the issues. One allows advertisers running app installation ads to see how many people installed the app after a campaign without divulging the information of individual users. Another gives advertisers a way to track the number of clicks an ad gets inside an app without revealing any individual’s data.
Apple announced that they would be serving these notices almost a year ago. Since, some app developers have voluntarily added the notification, but in the coming weeks it will extend to all apps in the Apple store.