Apps still tracking your data
Data is shared, even when you say no
When Apple launched iOS 14.5 in spring 2021, it included a muchhyped feature called App Tracking Transparency (ATT). The idea behind this was that any time an app wanted to share your data across other apps or websites, you would have the option to deny this request. It was followed by reports of panic in the advertising industry as data brokers feared their privacy-busting businesses would be heavily impacted by the new policy.
As it turns out, they did not have too much to fear, as Apple has not been particularly strict, according to a report from the Financial Times. The article alleges Apple has made a quiet pact with companies that make a range of popular apps, including Facebook and Snapchat, that allows the apps to continue to share user data with advertisers, provided that data is ‘anonymised and aggregated’. The FT posits that instead of using uniquely identifiable data, the apps in question can harvest and share user data ‘signals’ that represent group ‘cohorts’ instead of individual users.
Open to interpretation
This has come about due to the way app makers have interpreted Apple’s rules, the FT says. Apple’s User Privacy and Data Use policy states that developers ‘may not derive data from a device for the purpose of uniquely identifying it’. It seems developers have inferred this to mean they can collect
anonymised data and share it with advertisers – something Apple has apparently not disputed. That might come as a surprise to users who felt ATT kept their private data safe from being shared in all cases. That this can be done even after a user has asked the app in question not to track their data raises questions as to what purpose this prompt actually serves if many apps are allowed to more or less ignore it.
According to the FT, Snapchat developer Snap has told its investors that it will share data from 306m users with advertisers, after first obscuring and aggregating user data. Those 306m users allegedly include many who have asked the app not to track their data.
Is ATT a “dud”?
Cory Munchbach, chief operating officer at customer data platform BlueConic, has said that this approach involves trusting advertising companies that they will not abuse the data they gather, yet users are unable to check this without access to the data or algorithms at work.
At the same time, Munchbach believes Apple felt it had to take a laxer approach because doing otherwise would risk harming iOS. Speaking to the FT, Munchbach said, “Apple can’t put themselves in a situation where they are basically gutting their top-performing apps from a user-consumption perspective.
“If historical precedent in ad tech holds, those black boxes hide a lot of sins,” Munchbach added. “It’s not unreasonable to assume it leaves a lot to be desired.”
It’s not the first time Apple’s App Tracking Transparency has been called into question. In September 2021, the Washington Post reported that former Apple engineer and co-founder of Lockdown Privacy Johnny Lin said that ATT is a “dud” that gives users
“a false sense of privacy.”
According to the WP’s investigation, several apps, including Subway Surfers and Run Rich 3D, tracked detailed user data – including IP addresses, free storage, and even device volume level – that could be used to identify a device, even when the user requested this not to happen.