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I'm curious if apps are allowed by Apple to make their functions dependent upon ad tracking. Personally I think it would be a completely fair arrangement for the app to say that it only works if you are willing to allow ad-tracking to be enabled.

It is also not out of line with other apps that require access to camera/mic/etc. to function.

Let people make the choice whether they are willing to cede privacy in exchange for free software. Or even have a choice to pay a subscription for no ads or get it free if they allow ad tracking.

In their guidelines Apple has said this is not allowed. If a user declines tracking the developer cannot hobble any of the app’s features.
 
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I thought it was basic writing etiquette to write the full name initially, followed by the acronym (IDFA, in this case) in parentheses.
 
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Hmm that makes me think.. maybe this will make apps abandon ads in favor of a subscription model or in-app purchases. And because all payments have to be processed by Apple, at the end of the day, Apple takes a (bigger) cut through fees.
If that's the case, and Apple cares about privacy and also cares about their developers making money, then they need to reduce their cut. It seems quite difficult, maybe impossible to have it both ways.
 
Users will be able to disable ad tracking on an app-by-app basis, with apps required to show a pop up that will ask users if they want to be tracked. Ad companies assume that the majority of people are going to decline this request, which will have a broad impact on advertising on iOS devices going forward.

When a company expects the majority of its "customers" to reject their product when given a choice, it should be a sign to them that they're doing something wrong.

On a personal level, if I had to suffer ads, I'd actually be fine choosing a category of ads for things that interest me.
1) safe for work/family friendly
2) 30-45
3) family focus (husband/wife+ young kids)
4) active lifestyle (outdoors)
5) frugal tastes

A sibling of mine would likely prefer
1) NSFW
2) 20-30
3) bachelor/ette
4) experiential (wine tasting, cirque du soleil, etc)
5) expensive tastes

I would be fine with generally categorized ads. What I don't like is companies trying to guess all aspects of my family's demographics based on sneaky tracking, then try to hide said tracking, when all they'd have to do is just ask. For Pete's sake. A former business partner was like that. I had immigration papers he wanted to "confirm". Inside of that were sealed financial documents. He unsealed them and tried to look at them while pretending not to, then botched the re-sealing job, then lied about the whole thing despite being caught on the security camera. All he had to do was ask and I'd have told him.

Just like Facebook, I dumped the business partner. Years too late but not a moment too soon.
 
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Does anyone else feel more mad at Apple with these changes by learning that first Apple gave hard-coded UDIDs to developer/ad networks and then later the IDFAs?

They're being applauded/attacked for notifying customers now.

But why did they do it to begin with? It's not like cookies which had a purpose predating ads on the Internet.
 
Yeah, but if ad revenue goes down, apps will have to find another source of income in order to survive. Right now is very expensive and hard to get a good roi when advertising in networks like AdWords. Without tracking it’s going to be even harder, companies will most likely have to purchase less ads. So apps will have to offer less free content and implement even more in-app purchases to survive.
Life is full of compromises is it not? You (the app developer) can simply as me to accept ads that you think I might like....AND, let me see and approve what you are doing with my data/information.
 
The next thing Apple should kill is Spy Pixels in our emails.

We need to inflict even more pain on the parasitic Zuck. 😈​


What I ended up doing years ago is to turn off the load images setting in email. There are a few times where it messes up images you want to see but generally helps with tracking transparent gifs.
 
Yeah, but if ad revenue goes down, apps will have to find another source of income in order to survive. Right now is very expensive and hard to get a good roi when advertising in networks like AdWords. Without tracking it’s going to be even harder, companies will most likely have to purchase less ads. So apps will have to offer less free content and implement even more in-app purchases to survive.

If the only way an app can survive is to secretly do things that the user would not allow if he or she knew about it (because people are also not willing to pay up-front or via subscription), then perhaps the app shouldn’t survive.
 
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I'm curious if apps are allowed by Apple to make their functions dependent upon ad tracking. Personally I think it would be a completely fair arrangement for the app to say that it only works if you are willing to allow ad-tracking to be enabled.

It is also not out of line with other apps that require access to camera/mic/etc. to function.

Let people make the choice whether they are willing to cede privacy in exchange for free software. Or even have a choice to pay a subscription for no ads or get it free if they allow ad tracking.

Apple has made it clear that app functionality and features cannot be gated or incentivized by opt-in status. That means they can't give you free coins for opting in, nor can they give you more if you're opted in vs not. This means some apps will have an incredible financial burden for their first-party data (hosting, development, etc.) with no way of clawing it back. Most users do not and will not pay for an app subscription for a calculator app (for example) that's better than the iOS one. Some do, most don't. Say goodbye to your favourite calculator app.

If the only way an app can survive is to secretly do things that the user would not allow if he or she knew about it (because people are also not willing to pay up-front or via subscription), then perhaps the app shouldn’t survive.

Why does any ad tracking have to be evil? Why does an honest company like Rovio, who earns money from ads, and doesn't look for or share any personal data (just anonymized LTV data, and few other basic things that can't be traced to individuals) to maximize their ad yield get lumped in with Google and Facebook, who suck up everything they can?

There is no middle ground with Apple's solution.
 
Apple has made it clear that app functionality and features cannot be gated or incentivized by opt-in status. That means they can't give you free coins for opting in, nor can they give you more if you're opted in vs not. This means some apps will have an incredible financial burden for their first-party data (hosting, development, etc.) with no way of clawing it back. Most users do not and will not pay for an app subscription for a calculator app (for example) that's better than the iOS one. Some do, most don't. Say goodbye to your favourite calculator app.



Why does any ad tracking have to be evil? Why does an honest company like Rovio, who earns money from ads, and doesn't look for or share any personal data (just anonymized LTV data, and few other basic things that can't be traced to individuals) to maximize their ad yield get lumped in with Google and Facebook, who suck up everything they can?

There is no middle ground with Apple's solution.

You completely miss the point. If what Rovio is doing is so unobjectionable, then forcing them to tell people about it and asking customers to opt in shouldn’t be a problem. If, after Rovio tells people about it, they do NOT want to opt in, then maybe Rovio’s business model is a problem.
 
You completely miss the point. If what Rovio is doing is so unobjectionable, then forcing them to tell people about it and asking customers to opt in shouldn’t be a problem. If, after Rovio tells people about it, they do NOT want to opt in, then maybe Rovio’s business model is a problem.

Except that's NOT what the prompt does. There is not enough room to explain what data is used, how it is used, or how sharing it helps Rovio keep the game free. There's a reason European privacy attorneys have said Apple's ATT prompt DOES NOT constitute informed consent under GDPR (which also means European users will need a double opt in!).

Put simply, the modal as it exists is a largely uninformed binary yes/no option for users. There's simply not enough context allowed by Apple.
 
Except that's NOT what the prompt does. There is not enough room to explain what data is used, how it is used, or how sharing it helps Rovio keep the game free. There's a reason European privacy attorneys have said Apple's ATT prompt DOES NOT constitute informed consent under GDPR (which also means European users will need a double opt in!).

Put simply, the modal as it exists is a largely uninformed binary yes/no option for users. There's simply not enough context allowed by Apple.

Yes there is. you can pop up an entire screen before you show the prompt.
 
Yes there is. you can pop up an entire screen before you show the prompt.

Facebook is doing so. Apple has not actually said whether a pre-prompt will be allowed long-term. Again, there's still a double-opt-in for GDPR legal purposes.
 
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