- Some iOS 14 users started seeing prompts asking for permission to be tracked by apps, which is a policy change Apple announced earlier this year.
- The new privacy feature will be rolling out early next year, but Apple may be testing the dialogs as some users of the iOS 14.4 beta are already starting to see them.
- Many developers are unhappy with the new policy, especially Facebook.
Apple lives up to its promise to protect users’ privacy by requiring developers to ask users for permission to track them for advertising purposes in apps and websites owned by other companies. The prompts were expected to appear early next year, but some Apple device users saw the dialog after installing the first iOS 14.4 beta last week, suggesting the rollout has already begun.
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One iPad owner on the MacRumors forums took a screenshot when his iPad with iOS 14.4 beta 1 asked him if he wanted the NBA app to track his online activities. “Your information will be used to provide you with a better and personalized advertising experience,” was the prompt. The user had two options: Ask the app not to track or To allow.
Apple first said this privacy feature would be available alongside iOS 14 at launch, but following a developer protest, Apple pushed back the launch, explaining that it wanted to “ give developers the time they need to make the necessary changes, and As a result, the requirement to use this tracking permission will become effective early next year. “That would indicate that the prompts some users are seeing are either a test or a limited rollout.
Facebook has been the policy’s most outspoken defamation, claiming it “will have a damaging impact on many small businesses struggling to survive and the free Internet that we all rely on more than ever.” The company went so far as to put it in a full-page ad The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal To blow up a policy, it says ‘the Internet as we know it, for the worse’.
Apple responded to the criticism last Wednesday, December 16 with a statement of its own:
We believe this is a simple matter of standing up for our users. Users need to know when their data is being collected and shared with other apps and websites – and they should have the choice whether or not to allow it. App tracking transparency in iOS 14 doesn’t require Facebook to change its approach to user tracking and targeted ad creation, it just requires them to give users a choice.
If Facebook refuses to allow prompts to be displayed in its apps, the app can be removed from the App Store. Facebook probably won’t allow this, which is why it seems unlikely that anything will come of its campaign.
Jacob started as a hobby in college with video games and technology, but it soon became clear to him that this was what he wanted to do for a living. He currently lives in New York and writes for BGR. His previously published work can be found on TechHive, VentureBeat and Game Rant.