Attempts to Circumvent Apple's App Tracking Transparency Rules in China Reportedly Fail to Gain Traction

[MacRumors]

Apple's crackdown on Chinese apps that tried to bypass its new privacy rules has successfully thwarted a coordinated effort to create a new way of tracking iPhones for advertising in the country, according to a new report today.

Introduced in iOS 14.5, Apple's App Tracking Transparency rules require apps that access an iPhone's ad identifier or IDFA must ask a user's permission before tracking is allowed. As reported by the Financial Times in March, however, the change spurred ad and tech groups in China to develop a new way of tracking users without their consent, called CAID.

Along with the state-backed China Advertising Association (CAA), tech groups led by Baidu, Tencent, and TikTok parent ByteDance began testing CAID to see if it would let them identify users even if they refused to let apps use IDFA. Aware of the tests, Apple responded by blocking updates to several Chinese apps that it had caught using CAID in App Store submissions.

According to FT's latest paywalled report, that made the groups involved in testing CAID think again, and the project has since struggled to find support in mainland China and beyond.

Several people in China and Hong Kong said that, following Apple's retaliation, CAID lost support and the whole project failed to gain traction.

"This is a clear victory for Apple, and also consumer privacy, as the tech giants of China have been forced to back down and comply with Apple's rules," said Rich Bishop, chief executive of AppInChina, a leading publisher of international software in China.

"The Chinese app ecosystem was collectively baiting the bull with CAID, under the theory that Apple couldn't afford to ban every major app in the market," added Alex Bauer, head of product marketing at adtech group Branch.

"Apple called their bluff, and seems to have reasserted control over the situation by aggressively rapping knuckles on early adopters, before the consortium gained any real momentum."

ByteDance did not respond to FT's requests for comment, while Tencent and Baidu declined to comment. Apple meanwhile simply reiterated that its "App Store terms and guidelines apply equally to all developers around the world" and that "apps that are found to disregard the user's choice will be rejected".

Despite being backed by the state-backed CAA and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a research institute directly under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it's not clear if these groups had the full backing of Beijing.

Similarly, it's unknown if all the groups involved knew that use of CAID was a violation of Apple's policies, although some of those involved reportedly said they believed CAID had Apple's "stamp of approval."

Either way, it appears that Apple's early crackdown on apps that tried to circumvent App Tracking Transparency has had the intended effect of discouraging similar attempts, while successfully avoiding a showdown with the Chinese authorities over its wider use.

Article Link: Attempts to Circumvent Apple's App Tracking Transparency Rules in China Reportedly Fail to Gain Traction

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Giving full access to the Apple consumers, that is how it should be. Full control.

Apple is not playing any more games when it comes to Privacy and Transparency.

 

[Your Royal Highness]

Obviously bad but leaked by Apple to justify 1 App Store. Why can’t the platform mandate that all AppStore’s that join the platform adopt the same privacy rules and let the free-market determine price, sales and promotions?

 

[davidjytang]

I believe there would be more attempts on privacy in the future. Even the idea of China outlawing the prevention of tracking is not that far-fetched.

Apple please always follow through your promise of privacy.

 

[Bug-Creator]

Obviously bad but leaked by Apple to justify 1 App Store. Why can’t the platform mandate that all AppStore’s that join the platform adopt the same privacy rules and let the free-market determine price, sales and promotions?

That is, to put it nicely a rather naive idea……

 

[sinoka56]

If a request leaves your phone, it can be tracked 🤷‍♂️

 

[One2Grift]

If a request leaves your phone, it can be tracked 🤷‍♂️

Ah Yes, the anti Apple’s mantra of ‘oh they all do it’ — just stated a bit differently this time (oh if it leaves your phone it’s being tracked).

 

[ian87w]

Good work Apple.
Now about that Zuckerberg guy's apps...

 

[m4mario]

While government agencies are trying to tie Apple's hand's down as much as possible, Apple here is doing everything it can to protect user privacy.
People dismiss this because Apple makes money this way. But thats the point. Apple worked very hard to make this business model work. It was not a model that worked to begin with. What worked was collecting user data and Apple could have made more money if they chose that route. A company working hard to make money doing the right thing shows commitment to the cause. The truth is, when they started doing this, they had no visible way to monetize it.

 

[One2Grift]

Apple sure has pissed! off A LOT of companies — hitting them in their Surveillance Retail revenue.
Only a company the size and cash flow of Apple could do this. A smaller company would get knee capped. When you see negative stories in corporate media about Apple, give the above sentences some thought before assuming the story is true.

 

[contacos]

I am sure if China really wanted its way, they would get it

 

[Bustycat]

Privacy means anti-China in China.

 

[subjonas]

"The Chinese app ecosystem was collectively baiting the bull with CAID, under the theory that Apple couldn't afford to ban every major app in the market," … "Apple called their bluff, and seems to have reasserted control over the situation by aggressively rapping knuckles on early adopters, before the consortium gained any real momentum."

I’m reminded of the quote “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Sometimes I really really like Apple.

 

[Skeith]

I bet Apple will give in eventually.

China money is too good to pass~

You do not want to go against a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.

 

[TheOldChevy]

Obviously bad but leaked by Apple to justify 1 App Store. Why can’t the platform mandate that all AppStore’s that join the platform adopt the same privacy rules and let the free-market determine price, sales and promotions?

This is already the case today. You can buy an Android phone if you don't want to use the App Store.

 

[Khedron]

The moment Beijing officially says it supports these apps and methods Tim will cave like he always has.

 

[Abazigal]

Obviously bad but leaked by Apple to justify 1 App Store. Why can’t the platform mandate that all AppStore’s that join the platform adopt the same privacy rules and let the free-market determine price, sales and promotions?

You are asking Apple to take on the hassle of monitoring and policing other app stores for free?

 

[Shirasaki]

I bet Apple will give in eventually.

China money is too good to pass~

You do not want to go against a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.

While I also believe many people in this forum are going to be very happy to see Apple being kicked out of China because “APPLE PROTECTS PRIVACY AND STAND FIRM TO THEIR CLAIM”.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple sure has pissed! off A LOT of companies — hitting them in their Surveillance Retail revenue.
Only a company the size and cash flow of Apple could do this. A smaller company would get knee capped. When you see negative stories in corporate media about Apple, give the above sentences some thought before assuming the story is true.

This just strengths my conviction that pro-user and anti-developer moves are but two sides of the same coin. You can’t hope to please both sides at the same time, and favouring one often comes at the expense of antagonising the other.

That’s what I like about Apple. They hold enough sway over their ecosystem that they are able to implement policies like this that benefit me, the end user, even though they know it will be unpopular with developers. And developers stay because that’s where the more lucrative user base (us iOS users) reside.

 

[EmotionalSnow]

The moment Beijing officially says it supports these apps and methods Tim will cave like he always has.

I am honestly getting a bit tired of reading that sentence over and over. Apple Inc is a public corporation in a capitalist system - why would you expect them to behave otherwise?

 

[One2Grift]

While government agencies are trying to tie Apple's hand's down as much as possible, Apple here is doing everything it can to protect user privacy.
People dismiss this because Apple makes money this way. But thats the point. Apple worked very hard to make this business model work. It was not a model that worked to begin with. What worked was collecting user data and Apple could have made more money if they chose that route. A company working hard to make money doing the right thing shows commitment to the cause. The truth is, when they started doing this, they had no visible way to monetize it.

Apple is leveraging that it didn’t go the Surveillance Retail Advertising route. And their choice not to is a boon for us consumers who value privacy and security. (Apple actually warned Facebook/Zuckerberg about their coming moves on privacy). Apple’s decision resulted in the right thing. They could very easily have opted for 50 billion(at least) in Surveillance Retail revenue, easily.

is their motivation money? Of course it’s one of their motivations. Regardless, their decision results in the right thing for consumers who value privacy. And if the word gets out regarding the business of Surveillance Retail, it’ll pay off for Apple. But know this, no one takes away revenue from many companies without some blowback. Expect Apple to get hit from multiple sides in corporate media.

 

[One2Grift]

I believe there would be more attempts on privacy in the future. Even the idea of China outlawing the prevention of tracking is not that far-fetched.

Apple please always follow through your promise of privacy.

Nothing they can do about China. If the PRC says disable blocking then it’s out of Apple’s hands. if the US government says it, it’s also out of Apple’s hands. Apple and everyone else has to follow their rules to do business there. It’s just not reasonable to believe a 1.3b country can be bypassed. It just is what it

 

[Khedron]

I am honestly getting a bit tired of reading that sentence over and over. Apple Inc is a public corporation in a capitalist system - why would you expect them to behave otherwise?

No. But Apple are the ones making tearful advertisement campaigns about how much they love privacy and consider it a fundamental human right.

Other capitalist companies just say business is business. Tim’s hypocrisy is dangerous as the more he professes his beliefs yet consistently acts against them all he does is devalue the concept of human rights.

Most companies sacrifice truth for marketing. Apple uniquely sacrifices human rights. IMO that makes them far worse than the average company that simply says “we’re a business with no opinion”.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Glad to see this news. Keep up the good work, Apple. I want to see Apple make bad developers even more frustrated.

 

[MindYourMind]

No. But Apple are the ones making tearful advertisement campaigns about how much they love privacy and consider it a fundamental human right.

Other capitalist companies just say business is business. Tim’s hypocrisy is dangerous as the more he professes his beliefs yet consistently acts against them all he does is devalue the concept of human rights.

Most companies sacrifice truth for marketing. Apple uniquely sacrifices human rights. IMO that makes them far worse than the average company that simply says “we’re a business with no opinion”.

Understanding privacy as a fundamental right (and acting in accordance with that understanding) and capitalism do not have to exclude each other; they can go together and, as far as I can see, Apple is evolving to express that, which I applaud. When a company seems to cave in, it may just mean that it is intelligently adaptive rather than hypocritical.