Apple considers delay of iOS 14 privacy feature after ad industry backlash

Posted:
in General Discussion
Apple has reportedly told some developers that it plans to delay the enforcement of an iOS 14 privacy feature that has stirred controversy among advertisers and publishers.

Credit: Apple
Credit: Apple


The iOS 14 feature would require that users opt-in to aggregate ad tracking on an app-by-app basis. Companies that rely on advertising, from Facebook to news publishers, have raised concerns that it could significantly reduce ad revenue.

In the wake of those concerns, The Information on Thursday reported that Apple has told some developers that it plans to delay the enforcement of the pro-privacy feature.

The feature in question concerns Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), a random device identifier that allows advertisers to track aggregate data on users without revealing identifiable information.

In iOS 14, Apple will require users to specifically tap a prompt to "allow tracking" across apps and websites owned by other companies. That data allows advertisers to target personalized ads toward users, though many experts and ad industry officials believe that most users will opt out when faced with the prompt.

According to The Information's report, a delay in enforcement could mean that users won't see the prompt for some time after installing iOS 14 on their devices. Instead, the opt-in feature could arrive sometime in 2021.

Although positioned a pro-privacy endeavor, the feature has drawn ire from European ad officials and other tech giants like Facebook.

Facebook, for example, has said that the feature could lead to a 50% drop in advertising revenue on iPhone and iPad. Digital news publishers and media outlets are also "bracing" for a sizable drop in ad revenue, since advertisers pay less for ads that aren't personalized ads.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 51
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    that's crap
    pulseimagespjwilkinronnmagman1979elijahgpatchythepiratedysamoriarazorpit
  • Reply 2 of 51
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    though many experts and ad industry officials believe that most users will opt out when faced with the prompt.

    Ya think?

    Facebook, for example, has said that the feature could lead to a 50% drop in advertising revenue on iPhone and iPad. Digital news publishers and media outlets are also "bracing" for a sizable drop in ad revenue, since advertisers pay less for ads that aren't personalized ads.
    These companies are truly the lowest level of bottom-feeding scum that serve no useful purpose to consumers. If people actually wanted creepy, personalized ads, they wouldn't be so afraid.


    viclauyycGabypulseimagesronnmagman1979rob53elijahgsvanstromcaladanianBeats
  • Reply 3 of 51
    I was eagerly looking forward to not being blitzed by personalized ads while on Facebook and Instagram. This is bullshit. 
    ronnmagman1979elijahgsvanstrommwhiteBeatsMisterKitpatchythepiratedysamoriaAlex1N
  • Reply 4 of 51
    GabyGaby Posts: 190member
    I’ll be extremely unhappy if that’s the case and may even remain on the beta for as long as possible. They have no responsibility to advertisers and it was bound to cause friction among those that financially benefit from intrusive user profiling and advertising. Why should apple care? Their responsibility is to the users that pay a premium to purchase their products  and rely on these privacy enhancing measures! I sincerely hope that this is just a rumour. If true I’d encourage everyone to complain to Apple personally; I know I shall. 
    ronnmuthuk_vanalingammagman1979cat52viclauyycelijahgcaladanianpatchythepiratedysamoriaAlex1N
  • Reply 5 of 51
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    I was eagerly looking forward to not being blitzed by personalized ads while on Facebook and Instagram. This is bullshit. 
    I was eagerly looking forward to the tech industry changing so that companies aren't forced to turn to customer data monetization in order to make a go of it.  They can do it based on the merits and value of their technology alone.
    viclauyycGabypscooter63dysamoriaAlex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 51
    How reliable is website that published this? How reliable are their sources? 
    Alex1NSpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 51
    This is sooo fucked up, Apple’s mantra has been pro-privacy for decades, and now they buckle to the likes of douchebag scum like Zuckerburg and his kin???

    This was one of the primary features I was waiting for in iOS 14! Hopefully it’s still in there and I can still block these fucking goons from collecting petabytes of data on me and others!!!
    cat52elijahgBeatsdysamoriaAlex1Ndavgregwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 51
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    Is there any way a class action lawsuit can be started against ad-leaching firms to counter the potential lawsuits from Facebook, Google and others? Maybe it's time for Facebook to charge for their services instead of only grabbing ad money. I don't know of anyone who actually enjoys all the garbage advertisements that continue to fill our (physical) mailboxes. You want your mail delivered on time? Get rid of all the advertisements including all those letters wanting to give me a credit card. We need to stop all these things.
    magman1979BeatsdysamoriaAlex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 51
    They should not delay. I guess a compromise might be that this feature is on by default and users can turn it off if they want?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 51
    I find this hard to believe. The revenue drop and ad companies backslash are things Apple surely anticipated while developing the technology.

    And besides, why give a damn? Regulatory and antitrust pressures are here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future. There is no “incentive” in “playing nice” with other sectors of the technology industry.

    But most importantly: this move doesn’t resonate with Apple’s values, such as they are recognized. Nor does it makes sense for Apple’s consumers.
    elijahgmagman1979Alex1N
  • Reply 11 of 51
    It's all true unfortunately. Apple has released a statement:
    "We believe technology should protect users’ fundamental right to privacy, and that means giving users tools to understand which apps and websites may be sharing their data with other companies for advertising or advertising measurement purposes, as well as the tools to revoke permission for this tracking. When enabled, a system prompt will give users the ability to allow or reject that tracking on an app-by-app basis. We want to give developers the time they need to make the necessary changes, and as a result, the requirement to use this tracking permission will go into effect early next year." - Apple

    Ironic this gets released on the same day an ad get's released touting their privacy stance.
    muthuk_vanalingamelijahgAlex1N
  • Reply 12 of 51
    Mac Rumors has an update from Apple confirming.

    This is not a reduction of privacy for normal users, only for beta users and only for a short amount of time.

    The battles with Epic and regulators weakened Apple. Apple cannot fight all sides, and every battle at once.
    svanstromBeatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 51
    auxio said:
    I was eagerly looking forward to not being blitzed by personalized ads while on Facebook and Instagram. This is bullshit. 
    I was eagerly looking forward to the tech industry changing so that companies aren't forced to turn to customer data monetization in order to make a go of it.  They can do it based on the merits and value of their technology alone.
    I am pretty sure the industry will not change much if the majority market want free for everything on internet. People need to make money somehow.

    I don’t mind to pay for service if it is good and reasonable price. But this is not what most people think.

    I am running iOS 14 beta now. I don’t usually use beta OS. But the block ad tracking function alone worth it. If apple actually remove the function, it will be a big disappointment, given it is the biggest selling point for 14. 

    Apple should keep this function as it is what their AD said and their privacy philosophy is. 

    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 51
    We’ve been waiting a long time for this sort of thing, a few more months certainly won’t be terrible (although, fewer months would be better).

    I have often wondered, if Facebook decided to charge for an ad/tracking-free experience 1) how much would it need to be for them to cover what they earn per user per month and 2) how many people would switch to the paid model? My guess is there are not a lot of people who would be willing to pay to use Facebook, especially if it was more than $1/month. My other guess is that most people who are currently using Facebook don’t really care about ads and tracking.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 51
    omasouomasou Posts: 565member
    Why delay? Not like they can develop a workaround other than what Google is doing for web tracking.

    It's become impossible to visit a web site and search for a product w/o having a bot, ad or tracking warning pop up and take my cursor focus away.

    To Marketing...it's not helpful...it's annoying!!!!!!!!!!
    magman1979Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 51
    Mac Rumors has an update from Apple confirming.

    This is not a reduction of privacy for normal users, only for beta users and only for a short amount of time.

    The battles with Epic and regulators weakened Apple. Apple cannot fight all sides, and every battle at once.
    Apple wasn't weakened by Epic or regulators.  That's silly.  Apple has internal and external legal representation.  They can fight as many battles as they need to fight.  They made a conscious decision to appease the dev community.  No sense trying to portray Apple as down trodden waif being bullied.  Apple is a behemoth with considerable might. Pretty sure they are going to figure out a way for the devs to continue to thrive on the App Store, thus allowing the App Store to continue to thrive filled with apps.  The App Store/dev relationship is symbiotic.  One can't survive without the other. 
    muthuk_vanalingamgatorguy
  • Reply 17 of 51
    I was eagerly looking forward to not being blitzed by personalized ads while on Facebook and Instagram. This is 🐃💩. 
    You might be interested in this: https://lockdownhq.com/

    (No affiliation etc, and so on.)
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 51

    auxio said:
    I was eagerly looking forward to not being blitzed by personalized ads while on Facebook and Instagram. This is bullshit. 
    I was eagerly looking forward to the tech industry changing so that companies aren't forced to turn to customer data monetization in order to make a go of it.  They can do it based on the merits and value of their technology alone.
    They were never forced to work this way, it was just easier than making a product that people actually would be willing to pay for.

    For example, many apps could be made to work in either offline mode or mostly decentralised; which would make it a lot cheaper to run the services (no backend constantly eating up resources when the apps are used). But the apps end up intentionally "crippled" and heavily reliant on a backend, simply because the developers designed the whole thing to not provide a service; they developed it to grab people's data, and to keep their attention for ads.

    So they were never forced to work this way, they intentionally worked this way because there were sheep that were easy targets because the OS didn't offer enough protection.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 51
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    viclauyyc said:
    auxio said:
    I was eagerly looking forward to not being blitzed by personalized ads while on Facebook and Instagram. This is bullshit. 
    I was eagerly looking forward to the tech industry changing so that companies aren't forced to turn to customer data monetization in order to make a go of it.  They can do it based on the merits and value of their technology alone.
    I am pretty sure the industry will not change much if the majority market want free for everything on internet. People need to make money somehow.

    I don’t mind to pay for service if it is good and reasonable price. But this is not what most people think.
    People will pay for things which they find value in.  If a product (or service) isn't something people place value on, why should it continue to exist?
    edited September 2020 svanstromwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 51
    Mac Rumors has an update from Apple confirming.

    This is not a reduction of privacy for normal users, only for beta users and only for a short amount of time.

    The battles with Epic and regulators weakened Apple. Apple cannot fight all sides, and every battle at once.
    Apple wasn't weakened by Epic or regulators.  That's silly.  Apple has internal and external legal representation.  They can fight as many battles as they need to fight.  They made a conscious decision to appease the dev community.  No sense trying to portray Apple as down trodden waif being bullied.  Apple is a behemoth with considerable might. Pretty sure they are going to figure out a way for the devs to continue to thrive on the App Store, thus allowing the App Store to continue to thrive filled with apps.  The App Store/dev relationship is symbiotic.  One can't survive without the other. 
    Ever hear the term, death of a thousand cuts? Every organization only has a finite number of resources. Each person only has a finite number of hours they live, in which they have to sleep, eat, work and if they can, play. Not a single organization can fight every battle. That is why you are told to pick and choose your battles. 
    dewmewatto_cobra
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