Apple Will Stop Apps Like Facebook From Tracking User Data For Ads On iPhone

We¡¯re all tired of companies snooping on us through their apps and using our data against us. Facebook does it, even Google and a bunch of other apps.

To fight against this tracking Apple had announced last year that it will begin a new slew of privacy controls that will prevent apps from tracking its users.

Reuters

Reported first by AP, the feature was expected to roll out sometime in September last year, however, it got delayed due to multiple reasons, along with an outcry by Facebook, stating how it would harm app developers.

However, Apple then announced that they¡¯d release it early next year (i.e. 2021) and now, Apple has released the latest scheduled update as part of Data Privacy Day which Tim Cook announced during a speech at a technology conference in Europe. As per the schedule, the new privacy features are expected to be a part of the next iOS update in Spring -- which could be around late March or early April this year.

The reason Apple held on rolling out the new features was that it wanted to give time to Facebook and other app developers to adjust to the feature. Experts have predicted that a majority of users are going to refrain from giving their consent to be tracked by apps.

Just last month we saw Facebook squirming after it attacked Apple¡¯s privacy control in the form of full-page ads in major newspapers in the US, claiming that several free digital services will be hobbled if they can¡¯t compile personal information to customise ads.

Last week, Zuckerberg stated how Apple¡¯s motives and changes are less to prevent tracking of their user data and more to use its own platform to interfere with rivals to its own messaging app, "Apple may say that they are doing this to help people, but the moves clearly track their competitive interests."

Reuters

Facebook isn¡¯t the only major player who¡¯s going to suffer losses with ad tracking disabled on iPhones going forward. Google too relies on personal data to power its ad network. However, it hasn¡¯t teamed up with the social media giant since Google has already pays Apple $9 billion to $12 billion to be the default search engine on iPhones. But that doesn't mean it won¡¯t be impacted.

A recent blog post by Google revealed that Apple¡¯s new controls would affect its iPhone ad revenue including some of their own iPhone version of apps. It however has revealed that it pans on making relevant changes so they won¡¯t be affected by Apple¡¯s new controls.