Apple reportedly rejecting apps that access UDIDs

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  • Reply 21 of 178
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Those developers can piss off.



    90% of devs can piss off? Excluding Apple which obviously has access to the UDID?
  • Reply 22 of 178
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,855member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Why? Why do they need access to my UDIDs?



    I've found that if asdasd thinks it's a bad idea, it's most likely a very good one.
  • Reply 23 of 178
    rivertriprivertrip Posts: 141member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    I'm not sure I see the difference between using a MAC address and a supposed UDID, I mean, neither one specifically identifies a person, just the device itself right? Are they just trying to get the developpers to have people 'sign up'? Otherwise I don't see the point in this move.



    I think Apple will restrict access to the MAC address too.
  • Reply 24 of 178
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Automaticftp View Post


    For more targeted advertising.



    Honestly I think the people involved in the advertising world are just full of themselves. I do not respond to advertising at all. Even the crap that gets mailed to me every other day goes into the trash can before I even re-enter the house. There is little value in buying consumer goods on somebody else's schedule. Especially electronics where the deals always get better in a few weeks down the road.



    If anything this seems to be the type of thing desperate people do. I have to wonder if there are any controlled studies on the value of consumer tracking in the modern world. By the way studies by independent scientist, not the jerks running these companies.
  • Reply 25 of 178
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Automaticftp View Post


    For more targeted advertising.



    Ah, well, I'd like to join in ascii's views on the matter, then.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    A standard dev would use the device ID to tell where users hit in the app?



    Where as in location? No. You have a modal popup asking for access to Location Services. You have no right to circumvent that to find out where I am.



    Where as in what type of device? The app can know that based on the function calls that fire when the app is opened. You don't need to be looking up my UDID for that.



    Quote:

    It can also - at it's most primitive - tell how many users are using the app on any one day?



    So have a 10kb data packet sent out to the dev when the app opens.



    Quote:

    ?and tell legit users from non-legit.



    Ah, see, that's about the only reason I can imagine having a use for that. It's not like it would do anything, though. You can't stop the pirates from actually using the app.
  • Reply 26 of 178
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


    I've found that if asdasd thinks it's a bad idea, it's most likely a very good one.



    Apple - who are probably using the UDID all the time in iOS for their own purposes. They certainly do it in the profiles.



    They also allow access to your contacts list without a confirmation, a far greater security risk.
  • Reply 27 of 178
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    There are many other reasons to put free apps on the App Store.



    Theses include things like personal interest in a subject. The desire to get an app out there without the complexity of running a business. If your business is hardware the App Store is the way to distribute the software. In fact I'd have to say there are a great deal of free apps on the App Store that have nothing to do with advertising.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aBeliefSystem View Post


    The deal with free apps is advertising.



    This simply means developers will find it harder to make money and it is likely Apple are using this opportunity to gain more monetary control.



    That is baloney! I'm pretty sure Apple wouldn't have even bothered if it wasn't for bad developer behavior and the very public inspection of the privacy issues involved.
  • Reply 28 of 178
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    Nobody can track where you are without asking. That's separate from a UDID, it's a location request.



    Does iADS use UDID?



    If you believe that then you are very gullible.
  • Reply 29 of 178
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    Honestly I think the people involved in the advertising world are just full of themselves. I do not respond to advertising at all. Even the crap that gets mailed to me every other day goes into the trash can before I even re-enter the house. There is little value in buying consumer goods on somebody else's schedule. Especially electronics where the deals always get better in a few weeks down the road.



    If anything this seems to be the type of thing desperate people do. I have to wonder if there are any controlled studies on the value of consumer tracking in the modern world. By the way studies by independent scientist, not the jerks running these companies.



    I agree about 98%. I do occasionally look at offers that I receive in the mail. Plus, the mail is a good way to get telemarketers to leave you alone. Just tell them to mail you something and you'll look at it. They almost never do.
  • Reply 30 of 178
    povilaspovilas Posts: 473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    Bad move. Pissing about 90% of devs off.



    Oh poor developers ? who gives a shit, just suck it up like the rest of of the people do.
  • Reply 31 of 178
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Ah, well, I'd like to join in ascii's views on the matter, then.



    Where as in what type of device? The app can know that based on the function calls that fire when the app is opened. You don't need to be looking up my UDID for that.



    .



    No , where in the app. Without someway to differentiate the hits you can't tell much. 10,000 calls to a Webservice? How many per device? If 90% of the calls are from 10% of devices that tells you something ( what it tells is app dependent ).



    The solution, offhand, is to generate a GUID per user and store in iCloud so it isn't lost in reinstalls, or use a guid in a local db, which would be destroyed in a reinstall. The latter isn't perfect but it gives pretty much the same info as a UDID, the difference is that that GUID us lost per reinstall while a UDID is lost with a new device. Neither is really user tracking, the fact that the solution is easy shows that Apple is playing to the congressional pea gallery.



    There are far greater concerns with mobile devices that this, and as we have already seen both apple and the carriers track location when triangulating using Udids, the carriers continue to do this even if Apple has "stopped". All Apple is doing here, since it is continuing to track is use privacy concerns to curtail ads competition.
  • Reply 32 of 178
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    If you believe that then you are very gullible.



    Lol. Ok, you are right. External devs can't track where you are without requesting permission. Apple and the carriers can.
  • Reply 33 of 178
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    Yes but you are an idiot who barely understand what you are posting about, and always supports Apple - who are probably using the UDID all the time in iOS for their own purposes. They certainly do it in the profiles.



    The problem isn't what Apple does with the UDID, the problem is what the ad companies can do with it in conjunction with sales and marketing companies.

    Quote:



    They also allow access to your contacts list without a confirmation, a far greater security risk.



    Yes which lead to some of the abuse that started this whole movement towards tighter security in iOS. The reason, the only reason as far as I can see, for the tightening of security is the abuse of current laxity in security by developers. In effect Apple has had to tighten things up due to some very nasty habits of app developers.
  • Reply 34 of 178
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    I'm not sure I see the difference between using a MAC address and a supposed UDID...



    I don't get it either.
  • Reply 35 of 178
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    90% of devs can piss off? Excluding Apple which obviously has access to the UDID?



    I do not use a single app that has ads. It's intrusive and irritating on a mobile phone, and when on wireless, the user pays to see them. A lot of them are crap anyway.



    If someone can't give us an honest-to-goodness free app, yes, they can piss off.
  • Reply 36 of 178
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Dropping the land line helped a lot there. Back in the day though if one of this idiots called I would just leave the phone off the hook for awhile. They could then talk to the air until tired.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    I agree about 98%. I do occasionally look at offers that I receive in the mail. Plus, the mail is a good way to get telemarketers to leave you alone. Just tell them to mail you something and you'll look at it. They almost never do.



    The only thing that I respond to in the mail is the stuff I specifically sign up for. Generally these are catalogs that are good for a year or quarter. Mostly this is for work related purchases anyways. While some may look at a catalog as a marketing tool I don't see it as being in the same class as the flood of junk mail that comes constantly without being asked for.
  • Reply 37 of 178
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    Lol. Ok, you are right. External devs can't track where you are without requesting permission. Apple and the carriers can.





    Maybe not real time but very close to it. It takes a bit of cooperation with others but it can be done.
  • Reply 38 of 178
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post


    Apple and the carriers can.



    Yes, they can. If you can't see the obvious difference between them and some random app developer, I have no idea what to tell you.
  • Reply 39 of 178
    radjinradjin Posts: 165member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    I'm not sure I see the difference between using a MAC address and a supposed UDID, I mean, neither one specifically identifies a person, just the device itself right? Are they just trying to get the developpers to have people 'sign up'? Otherwise I don't see the point in this move.



    UDID + your location most of the time (your home) + cookies and sites you may have visited + any information you might have shared = A unique identifier for you. Gay/Straight, Old/young, Male/Female, and so on. Soon they have a complete database about you and then sell it to advertisers to target you.
  • Reply 40 of 178
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    I do not respond to advertising at all.



    That's what they all say...
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