Apple says it will roll out a new privacy regulation in the spring to stop iPhone apps from secretly shadowing people. The delay in the anticipated rollout is designed to propitiate Facebook and other digital services that rely on such data monitoring to help sell ads.
While Apple hasn’t given a specific date, the general timetable announced Thursday means that a highly anticipated feature known as App Tracking Transparency will be part of an iPhone software update likely to arrive in late March or sometime in April.
After delaying the security’s planned release in September amid a Facebook-led outrage, Apple had previously said it would come out early this year. Apple has released the latest update as part of the Data Privacy Day, which CEO Tim Cook will greet during a speech scheduled at a technology conference in Europe on Thursday.
Apple paused to give Facebook and other app makers more time to adapt to a feature that requires iPhone users to give their explicit permission to be tracked. Analysts expect a significant number of users to decline that consent as soon as it requires their consent. Currently, iPhone users are often tracked by apps they install unless they take the extra step of going to iPhone settings to avoid it.
Facebook last month stepped up its attacks on Apple’s new privacy control in a series of full-page ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other national newspapers. That campaign suggested that some free digital services will be hindered if they can’t collect personal information to customize ads. On Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg questioned Apple’s motives for the changes, saying the iPhone maker “has all the incentive” to use its own mobile platform to thwart rivals for its own messaging app.
“Apple may say they are doing this to help people, but the steps clearly follow their competitive interests,” said Zuckerberg.
Google, which also relies on personal data to power the Internet’s largest ad network, has not joined Facebook in its criticism of Apple’s upcoming scrutiny of tracking. Google benefits from being the default search engine on the iPhone, a valued position for which it pays Apple an estimated $ 9 billion to $ 12 billion annually.
But Google warned in a blog post on Wednesday that Apple’s new controls will have a significant impact on the ad revenue generated by iPhones in its digital network. Google said a “handful” of its iPhone apps will be affected by the new requirement, but has not specified which ones.
“We remain committed to maintaining a vibrant and open app ecosystem where people can access a wide variety of ad-supported content with the confidence that their privacy and choices are respected,” wrote Christophe Combette, group product manager for Google Ads.
Apple has also released an eleven-page report showing how much apps can learn about their users in everyday life.
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