Apple first blocking cross website tracking and then blocking tracking of apps and now requiring the consent was right. But we must all realise that the tracking of free service companies is not an attack of individual privacy but privacy in general.
This is a monetisation scheme. The advertisers can target you in a much more efficient way than mass media advertising, recommending you something that you might already think of purchasing. The ads sold this way are more expensive and generates more revenue for the ad-runners.
When I say you, it's the consumer.
Not you as John, Jack, Mary or any individual. No-one cares about who you are. But everyone cares about what kind of consumer you are (your likes, wonders, hobbies, people you are connected to etc)
As long as you're anonymous, meaning your personal, quantifiable information is not shared, your individual privacy is not breached.
You persona however, is.
If you're uncomfortable with your free apps tracking your usage across platforms and profiting on this date by allowing advertisers filer and target you as a consumer more efficiently, you should be able to opt out on that.
However this is just blocking one way of tracking consumers. There are other, predictive methods advertisers still can use to target you, ie shopping patters in brick and mortar shops, your CRM date from companies as well as banks, telephone companies and even the company you work for, titles etc.
Apple's privacy ads may result its users thinking that they are protecting your individual privacy (ie yourself, your SSN, your address, your bank number etc), which is true for ALL establishments. This is agains the law for far more long than this topic.
Apple just makes sure that you have the ability to opt out of the monetisation system that companies can target you as a consumer. That's it.
But they do however rise to a spotlight of privacy protectors and that USP is allowing them to gain a (false) competitive advantage, which is wrong.