Apple Adds App Tracking Information To iOS. Apple announces two important new improvements to how third-party apps are downloaded and installed from the Apple App Store.
According to Apple, both changes would be available by late spring of this year (2021).
The first of these is “A Day in the Life of your Data,” which serves as a guide explaining how companies track user data across websites and apps. “A Day in the Life of your Data,” gives users a better understanding of the kinds of data companies are most interested in. By knowing how companies use user data, Apple’s consumers will be in a much better position to make informed decisions about if whether or to share personally identifiable data in the first place.
Tracking Transparency
Second and even more significant than the report, Apple’s new Tracking Transparency feature will require apps to request users’ permission before tracking them across other apps and websites. The new tool will also give Apple users a bird’s eye view of exactly which apps have requested permission to track so they can make changes to those settings as they see fit.
The changes, while excellent in theory, have also raised some hackles. Facebook bristled at the notion Apple would dare even attempt to block the ubiquitous app’s ability to track Apple users across the web. There appears to be little that Facebook can do about it, but the social media giant has certainly made their displeasure known where the newly planned feature is concerned.
Privacy advocates see Apple’s app add Tracking Transparency as a huge step forward and a major win for the end-user. Naturally, companies that make a mint by tracking and selling user data are less than happy about it. For far too long, they’ve had a free hand, and it’s well past time to rein them in. Kudos to Apple for the coming changes.
