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Apple has begun rejecting app updates that do not comply with the App Tracking Transparency rules that the company is enforcing starting with iOS 14.5, according to a new report from Forbes.

nba-tracking-prompt.jpg

Apps must ask for permission to access the advertising identifier or IDFA of a user's iPhone in order to track them across apps for ad targeting purposes, a rule that apps will need to comply with when iOS 14.5 launches. The rule also prevents apps from using other workaround methods for tracking users, which is getting some developers into trouble already.

Several apps have been rejected so far, with Forbes listing Heetch, Radish Fiction, InnoGames, and more. Developers seeing app rejections are getting the following message: "Your app uses algorithmically converted device and usage data to create a unique identifier in order to track the user," with the message also listing the data that's being collected.

apple-app-transparency-tracking-rejection.jpg

Mobile marketing analyst Eric Seufert said that an SDK from mobile measurement company Adjust is at fault because of the data that it collects for device fingerprinting. Adjust, which is installed in more than 50,000 apps, says that it "maximizes the impact" of mobile marketing.


Apple is blocking apps that are using fingerprinting techniques to collect data for the purpose of building a profile of a user that allows the user to be tracked even without an advertising identifier. Data collection uses metrics like software version, time since last update, time since last restart, charge level, battery status, and more to identify individual users.

It is Apple's position that if a customer has declined the usage of the IDFA for ad tracking, that user has also declined other tracking methods. Apple's App Store rules say that app developers cannot collect data from a device for the purpose of identifying it, and developers are responsible for all tracking code in their apps, including any third-party SDKs they're using.

Adjust has now updated its SDK to remove code that accesses data like CPU type, phone memory, charging status, and battery level, so apps that were rejected for using Adjust may be able to have their updates greenlit after installing the new Adjust SDK.

There's still no word on when Apple plans to release iOS 14.5, but we've had six betas so far and the software is set to be available to the public sometime in the spring. With the App Tracking Transparency rules starting to be enforced for updates, it is possible that Apple is preparing for the software's launch, so we could perhaps see it debut in the near future.

Article Link: Apple Now Rejecting App Updates That Defy iOS 14.5 App Tracking Transparency Rules
Major Software updates next Tuesday? Or (Har, Har: tomorrow?).
 


Apple has begun rejecting app updates that do not comply with the App Tracking Transparency rules that the company is enforcing starting with iOS 14.5, according to a new report from Forbes.

nba-tracking-prompt.jpg

Apps must ask for permission to access the advertising identifier or IDFA of a user's iPhone in order to track them across apps for ad targeting purposes, a rule that apps will need to comply with when iOS 14.5 launches. The rule also prevents apps from using other workaround methods for tracking users, which is getting some developers into trouble already.

Several apps have been rejected so far, with Forbes listing Heetch, Radish Fiction, InnoGames, and more. Developers seeing app rejections are getting the following message: "Your app uses algorithmically converted device and usage data to create a unique identifier in order to track the user," with the message also listing the data that's being collected.

apple-app-transparency-tracking-rejection.jpg

Mobile marketing analyst Eric Seufert said that an SDK from mobile measurement company Adjust is at fault because of the data that it collects for device fingerprinting. Adjust, which is installed in more than 50,000 apps, says that it "maximizes the impact" of mobile marketing.


Apple is blocking apps that are using fingerprinting techniques to collect data for the purpose of building a profile of a user that allows the user to be tracked even without an advertising identifier. Data collection uses metrics like software version, time since last update, time since last restart, charge level, battery status, and more to identify individual users.

It is Apple's position that if a customer has declined the usage of the IDFA for ad tracking, that user has also declined other tracking methods. Apple's App Store rules say that app developers cannot collect data from a device for the purpose of identifying it, and developers are responsible for all tracking code in their apps, including any third-party SDKs they're using.

Adjust has now updated its SDK to remove code that accesses data like CPU type, phone memory, charging status, and battery level, so apps that were rejected for using Adjust may be able to have their updates greenlit after installing the new Adjust SDK.

There's still no word on when Apple plans to release iOS 14.5, but we've had six betas so far and the software is set to be available to the public sometime in the spring. With the App Tracking Transparency rules starting to be enforced for updates, it is possible that Apple is preparing for the software's launch, so we could perhaps see it debut in the near future.

Article Link: Apple Now Rejecting App Updates That Defy iOS 14.5 App Tracking Transparency Rules
'Hi...I'm from the water dept. to read your meter. But first I want to wonder around your home and record all the book titles you have, DVDS, any financial data on your desk, see your children's bedrooms....look into your medicine chest in the bath etc. etc. etc.....'.....
 
Oh hell yes. Good move Apple. Love how this company respects privacy and security of the owner.

I hope Facebook looks at this as well

this needs to be spread to those who have Android. Get a cheap iPhone or iPad, update it to iOS 14.5 and all apps must have this feature after upgrading. A match made in heaven
If Facebook looks at it it'll be as a vampire looking into a mirror......
 
ALL of our companies 'bow down' to the laws of other countries they do business in......as do theirs over here!
 
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So how will this work? I test iOS 14.5 on one of my iPhones, but it hasn’t stopped all my Apps from working... and I rarely get the pop-up asking for permission...
What is the Safari Privacy Report stating ?
 
So how will this work? I test iOS 14.5 on one of my iPhones, but it hasn’t stopped all my Apps from working... and I rarely get the pop-up asking for permission...
What is the Safari Privacy Report stating ?
Now let's wait for China to play offended and claim that foreign evils are hurting their feelings and doing horrible things to their user's data. All this while sending a kind reminder to Tim that they are the ones that set the rules of the game, and not Apple.
IN CHINA..Yes! It's their country. Up to their people to eventually wake up.
 
Apps have to “ask”, but they don’t have to comply. It’s just a “request”. In reality, it just give the user a false sense of security. Why doesn’t the dialog say “Do not track me” or “Block app tracking”?
Because app could track you by itself. Ask app Not to track means I deny app to track me across website and app of other companies.
If "Ask app Not to track" is renamed to "Deny tracking", means app must not track me by itself instead.
 
Two points:

Opt-In Verbiage
Doesn't matter what the ATT dialogue is (“Don’t Allow” and “OK”) or not (“Ask App not to track”) that was in the betas. Anything but the affirmative is a hard no. It’s not optional and Apple has made that abundantly clear in its developer documentation.

China
China’s Cybersecurity Administration (CAC) has actually released guidelines that Chinese developers can’t restrict functionality or content if users don’t consent to sharing non-essential data. (China requires certain data like payment accounts for financial apps, phone numbers for ride hailing).

This actually brings China in line with both GDPR and Apple’s guidelines around this. This is... surprising, and probably a sign the effort by an alliance of Chinese developers to adopt the CAID is not viable long term.
 
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Does not stop apps from working just stops them from tracking with the IDFA, as apps get updated they must implement the permission request or they will not be approved.
OK - so old apps will not be able to track, and new ones have to implement the tracking permission request feature?
 
Apps have to “ask”, but they don’t have to comply.
If an app tracks the device without user consent, they may find their dev account banned by Apple.
It’s just a “request”. In reality, it just give the user a false sense of security. Why doesn’t the dialog say “Do not track me” or “Block app tracking”?
You are asking the app, not Apple. Apple is trying to represent themselves as brokering that exchange and mandating apps respect user preference. The alternative (Apple says advertisers are no longer able to track) will get them sued even more than normal
 
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Apps have to “ask”, but they don’t have to comply. It’s just a “request”. In reality, it just give the user a false sense of security. Why doesn’t the dialog say “Do not track me” or “Block app tracking”?
Its likely a lawyer thing. Apple doesn't want to be legally responsible when some app cheats. But by "asking", the app creator is still liable to the user.
 
just never forget that Apple was the one who got all of us into this tracking hell in the first place.
Clearly the blame for this world wide tracking mess rests squarely on their shoulders. They were the ones who invented the damn IDFA in the first place and taught developers how to use it.
 
Apps have to “ask”, but they don’t have to comply. It’s just a “request”. In reality, it just give the user a false sense of security. Why doesn’t the dialog say “Do not track me” or “Block app tracking”?
Yes they do have to comply, as per the post that you are commenting on that you clearly didn't read.
 
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