Difference between revisions of "Apple's App Tracking Transparency"

Revision as of 19:17, 26 January 2023

Apple’s App Tracking Transparency is a privacy feature released in iOS 14 requiring apps to obtain permission from a user before collecting information from their activity across other apps. ^[1] This feature changes user data collection from being automatically opted-in to being automatically opted-out. Users also have the option to disable apps from asking if they are able to track, automatically opting out users from tracking instead. ^[2]

This new feature is one of many steps Apple has taken to increase user privacy and trust across their devices. Other measures include social widget tracking prevention, privacy reports, intelligent tracking prevention, and fingerprinting defense.^[3]

Identifier For Advertisers (IDFA)

Every Apple device contains a unique identifier called an Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) that collects information from its given user without disclosing personal identification information about the user themself. ^[4] By tracking information about the actions and behaviors of the user across the device rather than the personal information provided by the user, Apple is able to uphold a level of anonymity about the specific identity of the user of each device.

Even with the identity of the user anonymized, advertisers are still able to gain mass amounts of information through the IDFA to produce customized advertising to the user. Companies are not able to learn specific information regarding the user, but they are able to aggregate the data to still directly market towards each user. This practice protects an individual’s privacy by reinforcing anonymous categorization.

When the IDFA was originally created, Apple automatically opted users into sharing their collected app data with the IDFA. Users could choose to opt out of sharing their information by going into settings and turning off this sharing option. With the new iOS 14 update, App Tracking Transparency automatically opts users out of sharing this information rather than automatically opting them into the IDFA. This feature was always technically optional, but the new release requires users to choose to share their data, rather than requiring users to choose not to share their data. ^[5]

The Future of User Data Tracking

After the introduction of ATT, only about 20% of users have opted in to share their data to the IDFA. ^[6] The amount of information collected and stored within the IDFA has dramatically decreased since iOS 14. Although the introduction of this feature is meant to aid in reducing privacy concerns for users, there are still some ways in which Apple collects user data.

Apple

Apple discloses a few ways in which user data is transported or sent to other sources without requiring permissions through App Tracking Transparency. These situations include, transferring data locally, passing along information relevant to fraud and security purposes, and through sharing data regarding creditworthiness. ^[7] Additionally, users that opt out of the IDFA are still submitting data to Apple’s SKAdNetwork. SKAdNetwork is a collection of data surrounding ads presented on Apple products. This data is not specific per user, but is rather aggregated to ensure group anonymity. ^[8] Advertisers then receive this grouped feedback, allowing them to measure the success of their ads in a way that more strictly conceals the identities of users. ^[9]

Apple's new changes, while good at adding roadblocks for smaller, invasive data brokers, still possess certain blindspots ^[10] that might open up users to tracking. For one, the changes don't prevent platforms from employing first-party tracking, allowing large brokers with a lot of first-party tracking data to leverage that in invasive ways. Researchers also found an Alibaba subsidiary was able to create a mutual user identifier to track across apps.

Collaborative Writing Exercise Apple has recently released a privacy update involving an anti-tracking feature, App Tracking Transparency (ATT) in which users are prompted with an option to ask a certain app not to track location and other personal information. Many celebrate this new feature as a move of needed transparency for both Apple and their various apps available in the App store to download, after a rise in app's ability to track personal information once a user downloads the app. Certain controversies have arisen regarding whether or not Apple is actually preventing tracking, since even with this new feature apps can still track users to an extent. Contrarily, if a user clicks "allow," meaning they accept the app tracking their information, the app can use Apple's Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) to track the user.

Sources: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/apptrackingtransparency https://www.vox.com/recode/23045136/apple-app-tracking-transparency-privacy-ads https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/08/22/how-does-apples-app-tracking-transparency-framework-affect-advertisers/?sh=91eaee77c619

References

1. ↑ If an app asks to track your activity. Apple Support. (2022, May 10). Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212025#:~:text=App%20Tracking%20Transparency%20allows%20you,or%20sharing%20with%20data%20brokers.
2. ↑ If an app asks to track your activity. Apple Support. (2022, May 10). Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212025#:~:text=App%20Tracking%20Transparency%20allows%20you,or%20sharing%20with%20data%20brokers.
3. ↑ Privacy - features. Apple. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://www.apple.com/privacy/features/
4. ↑ What is IDFA and Apple IDFA is important? Adjust. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2023, from https://www.adjust.com/glossary/idfa/
5. ↑ What IDFA Privacy Changes Mean for Digital Advertising on IOS Devices Epsilon. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2023, from https://www.epsilon.com/us/insights/trends/idfa
6. ↑ What is IDFA and Apple IDFA is important? Adjust. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2023, from https://www.adjust.com/glossary/idfa/
7. ↑ Apple Inc. (n.d.). User Privacy and Data Use - App Store. Apple Store. Retrieved January 22, 2023, from https://developer.apple.com/app-store/user-privacy-and-data-use/
8. ↑ SKAdNetwork. Apple Developer Documentation. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/skadnetwork
9. ↑ SKAdNetwork. Apple Developer Documentation. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2023, from https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/skadnetwork
10. ↑ Goodbye Tracking? Impact of iOS App Tracking Transparency and Privacy Labels, from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2204.03556v3