Apple has mentioned they don't track you like that. Not that I take their word 100%, but I do believe this one will fizzle out.
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Apple Faces German Antitrust Probe Into App Tracking Transparency
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Apple cleverly sets itself up as a premiere ad placement partner after killing off "third party" data use via ATT kneecapping FBook. Should we trust Tim & Co. to put consumers interests above those of shareholders ?? Tim (and most CEOs) would argue they are legally bound to focus on SHs at the expense of consumers. Thanks MiltonF. E.g.:
Apple ad revenues skyrocket amid its privacy changes
Apple earnings show how much its ad business has grown amid iOS 14.5: App Store search ads have benefited greatly from its privacy update—something advertisers have known for a while and regulators won’t be able to ignore for long.www.emarketer.com
Very very shady business practice by Apple if it turns out to be true. Implements ATT to allegedly help it's customers deal with 3rd party advertisering but then sezies the opportunity to fill the void left by the 3rd party advertisers with their own advertising thereby increasing their advertising revenue and Apple thought they were going to get away with it!!!, not likely. Was only a question of time before a countries regulator stepped in. Just so happens to be Germany.
I agree that the playing field should be level but it also depends on which direction it goes.
Is doing away with the visibility into app tracking worth a level playing field?
We as consumers should have both. These are not mutually exclusive.
I am a bit surprised that the findings are that Apple is not subjected to their same rules when Apple has said they put all their apps through the process. I’ll have to dig in there. But if this is the case then I would argue the solution should be that Apple should be held to it’s own ATT rules and not have ATT done away with. That is what is best for us as consumers.
Why are you all disliking him he's right. iOS is unnecessarily restrictive.
Let the market speak then. Capitalism should prevail. Don't buy a product that doesn't suit your needs.
Yes. It's not an either or proposition.
That is not the same as profits first. Do you have any examples of profits first companies, that are not monopolies that have actually thrived long term?
Yep. Prove there is some deception at play.Apple ad revenues skyrocket amid its privacy changes
Apple earnings show how much its ad business has grown amid iOS 14.5: App Store search ads have benefited greatly from its privacy update—something advertisers have known for a while and regulators won’t be able to ignore for long.
No it doesn’t.
Buy an Android if you want more control, no one is stopping you.
Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, has initiated proceedings against Apple to investigate whether its tracking rules and anti-tracking technology are anti-competitive and self-serving, according to a press release.
The proceeding announced today will review under competition law Apple's tracking rules and specifically its App Tracking Transparency Framework (ATT) in order to ascertain whether they are self-preferencing Apple or being an impediment to third-party apps. Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, said of the proceeding:
Introduced in April 2021 with the release of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, Apple's App Tracking Transparency Framework requires that all apps on iPhone and iPad ask for the user's consent before tracking their activity across other apps. Apps that wish to track a user based on their device's unique advertising identifier can only do so if the user allows it when prompted.
Apple said the feature was designed to protect users and not to advantage the company. However, the Bundeskartellamt's preliminary findings indicate that while users can also restrict Apple from using their data for personalized advertising, Apple "is not subject to the new and additional rules of the App Tracking Transparency Framework."
The German competition regulator's proceeding is subsequent to an earlier proceeding initiated against Apple in June 2021 that was set up to look into claims of anti-competitive behavior related to the App Store, its products, and other services.
"In this context," said the regulator, "the possibilities for Apple itself to combine data across services and users' options regarding the processing of their data by Apple can be relevant, just like the question whether these rules may lead to a reduction of users' choice of apps financed through advertising."
Many advertisers have been impacted by ATT, but Facebook has been the most vocal and critical of the new change. Ever since Apple began to beta test the framework, Facebook accused Apple of impacting small businesses who rely on advertising as a means of keeping their doors open. Facebook also claimed that the framework was anti-competitive because it gives Apple an upper hand for running its own mobile advertising business on iOS devices.
An October 2021 report by the Financial Times claimed that ATT had resulted in a "windfall" for Apple's advertising business since its introduction. The report asserted that Apple's share of the mobile app advertising market tripled in the six months after the feature was introduced.
Apple has disputed suggestions that its ATT framework has unfairly benefitted the company to the detriment of third-parties. Earlier this year it commissioned a study into the impact of ATT that was conducted by Columbia Business School's Marketing Division. The study concluded that Apple was unlikely to have seen a significant financial benefit since the privacy feature launched, and that claims to the contrary were speculative and lacked supporting evidence.
Article Link: Apple Faces German Antitrust Probe Into App Tracking Transparency
No surprise. I am amazed it took this long for someone to look into this. It was noted when Apple launched this feature(s) they were setting themselves up for an inquiry.
iOS App Store would be like MacOS App Store, most of it will be garbage, and apps won't have any restrictions on what data they access. freedom comes with side effects that we will have to deal with.
FB, cellphone service providers are loosing money they are spending money to make sure that they get the data they need so that they can make money. at the end of the $$$ is what matters.
More regulation from government ? they are deciding what port to use for charging already, what next, they will spec out all hardware and apple will manufacture a phone as per EU design ?
EU should pass a law that states phone size should be same as mini, because large phones are expensive and people drop then.
Government should stay away from regulating what hardware to use in a phone.
Curious, how did you ascertain what the majority of iPhone users think?
You don't think others have been just as or even more clandestine?
See Edward Snowden, if you read fast and still have time then see Julian Assange. I've linked the Wiki pages to assist you in your research............
Their market, their choice of who to regulate, their rules. Dont like it? Let them leave the market, and take the 30% annual revenue loss with them. Then explain the stock price collapse to their investors, etc.
Yeah, no. I want more control over the iPhone I already own. Use your iPhone the way you like to, and let me use mine the way I like to.
Being "unnecessarily" restrictive can be a sign that a company isn't letting the market speak. That's a reason why we have antitrust laws, regulators, investigations, etc.
That feeling of deja vu...
Apple putting up billboards saying "iPhone. That's privacy". And Tim Cook saying "when you buy an iPhone, you're buying privacy", only to try to introduce the CASM thing mere months later.
Apple putting up billboards saying "iPhone. That's privacy". And Tim Cook saying "when you buy an iPhone, you're buying privacy", only to try to introduce the CASM thing mere months later.
Big tech having too much control and power isn't so great. Nor is unfettered capitalism (I for one am glad that there are regulations that prevent companies from selling us tainted products, etc.).
A video on on the recent state of tech monopolies, and how breaking up AT&T in the past was a good thing...
So jailbreak your phone and use it like you want to. Bet like 10% of iPhone users are power users like you other 90 just want their phone to work.
Apple need to keep the 90% happy
My point was that essentially saying "if you don’t like it, buy something else" is not a good answer for addressing a situation where a company may be behaving in illegal anticompetitive ways (however that may be defined and determined in the country or region in question). The reality may be that the company is doing the opposite of letting the market speak whether it be by restricting browsers or browser engines, app stores, making rules for others that don't apply to them, etc.
The more often dominant "anticompetitive behaving" companies are given a pass, the worse it can be for choice, pricing, innovation, etc.