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Apple on Tuesday threatened to remove apps from its widely used app store if they fail to fulfill an upcoming private function that allows users to block advertisers from tracking them in different apps.
The new feature, called App Tracking Transparency, was initially planned to debut this year, but was delayed to give developers more time to make changes to their apps and address privacy issues.
Some tech companies and advertisers, such as Facebook, have criticized the planned change, saying it could disproportionately hurt smaller developers, such as game companies.
But Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said users need to know when they’re being tracked across different apps and websites.
“At the beginning of next year, we will begin to require that all applications that want to do that obtain the explicit permission of their users, and developers who do not comply with that standard can remove their applications from the App Store,” he said in Protection Day Data and Privacy.
The new feature will require a pop-up notification that the app “wants permission to track you on third-party owned apps and websites.” Digital advertising companies expect most users to refuse to grant such permission.
“When invasive tracking is your business model, you don’t usually welcome transparency and customer choice,” Federighi said, dismissing criticism of the new feature.
“We need the world to see those arguments for what they are: a blatant attempt to maintain the invasive privacy status quo.”
Facebook and Google are the largest among thousands of companies that track consumers online for their habits and interests and show them relevant ads.
Apple itself came under fire last month when an Austrian privacy group, led by activist Max Schrems, filed complaints with data protection watchdogs in Germany and Spain, alleging that an online tracking tool used on their devices it violated European law. Apple rebutted the charge, calling it “factually inaccurate.”
Federighi said the industry would adapt to deliver effective advertising without invasive tracking.
“Getting this right will take time, collaboration, listening, and a true partnership across the tech ecosystem. But we believe the result will be transformative.”
© Thomson Reuters 2020
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