Google, Facebook, and Other Advertisers Upset iOS 14 Breaks their Spying Business Models

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With iOS 14, developers will have to tell users if their apps allow third parties to track their usage. The popup Apple requires allows users to opt out of tracking. These are self-reported, but if a developer is found lying, Apple could remove them from the App Store. That could be more costly than simply allowing users who read the pop-up to opt out. Still, either way, more iOS users will have the choice to hide their data from advertisers. This limits advertisers’ ability to sell targeted ads that are more likely to be effective. It cuts into the core of their business model, which relies on tracking users’ every action online and, in the case of Google and likely others, even offline.

Needless to say, they’re upset.

But when the groups violating your privacy and collecting large databanks of information on you, using machine learning to predict your patterns, movements, location at any time of day, and interests, are upset, maybe that’s a good thing? In fact, it sounds like a very good thing. iOS 14 can’t come quickly enough.

How Ads Work

I’m not going to give you a complete rundown, but here are the basics. When you browse online, websites track you through cookies. These are small pieces of information stored on your browser. Then, other websites using the same advertising companies can access your browsing habits across websites with just that tracking ID. They can also use your email address to identify you. In apps, you’ll find they store your email address, or a variety of email addresses, and associate you with an assigned advertising ID. Using this, they can track everything you do online.

Some companies, like Google, take it a step further. They track your location through your Android phone or Google Maps. From there, they can see the businesses and locations you visit in real life, and use that to build a profile on you. They also buy credit card data. If you used a credit card or bank account on Google Play, they’ll buy records of your transactions to see what you’ve purchased. And, of course, if you use Google Pay, they can just see what you’re buying regardless. This lets them use machine learning to associate your buying habits with others like you and predict what your next actions will be, or what your interests are.

Everyone does this. Facebook buys data from Amazon to make ads on their own platform more attractive. That’s why Facebook seems to know what you’d like, even if you don’t post about it, use Firefox Containers to lock Facebook’s APIs away in a container, and block trackers. If you bought from someone Facebook buys data from, they’ll build a profile on you. Because these companies share all of their data with each other, they can build massive and successful ad markets with your private information. Even if you have controls in place to block it, you can’t prevent companies from sharing their data with other companies.

But soon, Apple will give you those necessary tools.

Apple’s Focus on Privacy

iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur want to change that. In iOS 14, apps will have to inform users that they’re collecting and sharing their data with other companies. Users will be able to opt out, but, currently, Apple doesn’t have a way to enforce that. The only thing they could do is remove an app from the App Store if they’re violating users’ trust. Because it’s not difficult to find this information, as business deals and profit sources can’t be kept secret, companies will likely oblige. Wait until users find out that every app they use, from Spotify to Google Maps, to LinkedIn, is tracking what they do and selling their information. They’ll opt-out at every opportunity.

iOS 14 will display a popup informing users that the company who makes the app sells data to third parties. Safari has taken a page out of Firefox’s handbook, and will begin blocking trackers and displaying which trackers websites attempted to use. Safari doesn’t take the extra step that Firefox takes, by containerizing data from certain websites so they can’t track you elsewhere (like Facebook’s tracking APIs), but the measure should help keep your data out of more companies’ hands, if you choose to use Safari.

With these tools in place, Apple users will have more insight to who’s spying on them. This will influence usage and browsing habits, and allow users to opt out of such tracking. Violating those requests may get companies banned from Apple’s platforms, but it can also get them in legal trouble in countries with laws protecting users’ privacy, like the countries in the European Union.

Warning Users Twice in the EU

You’ve likely visited a website hosted in a European country already. You get alerts about how the website stores cookies, collects your data, and may provide it to third parties. You can opt out of this data collection, and the company has to oblige. For apps with European users, they’ll have to alert users twice that an app on iOS could collect their data. This dramatically reduces the chances that a person will approve of the data collection. A person might ignore one popup, and that’s what Google, Facebook, and others are counting on. But more than one? Probably not.

The alert goes further than the standard and lengthy GDPR warnings and uses plain language to let users know what the app is doing. As a result, they’ll be more likely to opt out, hurting these companies’ business models.

Apple Won’t Budge

Don’t worry, Apple likes collecting the salt of these advertisers. In fact, Google couldn’t have done a better job advertising for Apple’s devices and services if they tried. This is exactly what Apple wants, companies publicly complaining that Apple’s privacy measures are too good. When you’re thinking about buying your next smartphone, do you want one from the company that blocks advertisers from tracking you and collecting your private information, or do you want to buy from the company that is one of those advertisers tracking you and collecting your information?

Easy question. Privacy, please!

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Sources:

• William Gallagher: AppleInsider
• Tim Hardwick: MacRumors
• Stephen Nellis, Paresh Dave: Reuters