ppietra

this only makes sense if Apple launches a new iMac soon, probably sometime in the next 4 weeks.

ralphie said:

ppietra said:

ralphie said:

Developers are under NO obligation to not track.  Users can only "request" not to track, and not actually block tracking. Otherwise the alert would have said "Do not track me", which the feature doesn't actually enforce.   Apple wants to come across as all high and mighty, but in the end, the feature does nothing other than bring awareness to the user that they ARE being tracked.

Apple AppStore rules demand that apps need to ask for permission in order to track between applications from different developers, so they are definitely obliged to follow that rule. Not asking means that they do not have access to the device ad identifier, they loose access to the current method of tracking.
If they use some other method to track the user without permission Apple can kick them out of the store. I also imagine that in some countries people would be able to sue apps that don’t respect the rules, because apps will be expected to ask for permission and accept the user choice.
Of course there will be developers that will try to outsmart the system and hide things from Apple but most of the tracking is used for advertising and it will only be effective if an ad company implements it and makes it access public to other developers, which means it wouldn’t be that difficult for Apple to find out about it. There are, of course, other scenarios that are easier to camouflage but let us hope that Apple and others will keep vigilant.

That is not how it works.  Otherwise Apple would word the alert differently.. "Ask app not to track me" is NOT the same as "Block app from tracking me."  Its a "request" nothing more.  Plus we all know how good Apple is of vetting and enforcing EVERY app LOL.  Apple could EASILY build iOS from cross app cookie and ID sharing one-click, system-wide, but they chose not to. 

Read carefully what I wrote. It works exactly like that. Right now apps use an identifier generated by the device. Once the new policy is implemented this identifier will be blocked unless the app gains permission.
Like I said, if apps use another method to track the user without permission Apple can kick them out of the store. It is not that difficult to find which apps use Facebook, Google, and other ad companies tracking software in a automated way... Don’t confuse this type of analysis with malware or fraud analysis. It is undeniable that Apple enforces a lot of store policies, even if it fails at some levels, so your argument doesn’t stick that well.
Apple can not use the term "Block app" because that would shift towards the operating system the responsibility of blocking every single possible way of tracking. The wording used makes the app developer responsible for complying with the user’s choice. It is not a mere "request", it’s the app that invokes the question and as such if the app deceives the user there could be legal consequences - pay attention to the fact that developers will have signed an agreement where it says that they are not allowed to track without user permission. At least Apple would be justified to block the app.
If Apple doesn't enforce the policy in a meaningful way it could also be held accountable for false advertising, etc. At the very least it would risk a lot of bad press.

ralphie said:

Developers are under NO obligation to not track.  Users can only "request" not to track, and not actually block tracking. Otherwise the alert would have said "Do not track me", which the feature doesn't actually enforce.   Apple wants to come across as all high and mighty, but in the end, the feature does nothing other than bring awareness to the user that they ARE being tracked.

Apple AppStore rules demand that apps need to ask for permission in order to track between applications from different developers, so they are definitely obliged to follow that rule. Not asking means that they do not have access to the device ad identifier, they loose access to the current method of tracking.
If they use some other method to track the user without permission Apple can kick them out of the store. I also imagine that in some countries people would be able to sue apps that don’t respect the rules, because apps will be expected to ask for permission and accept the user choice.
Of course there will be developers that will try to outsmart the system and hide things from Apple but most of the tracking is used for advertising and it will only be effective if an ad company implements it and makes it access public to other developers, which means it wouldn’t be that difficult for Apple to find out about it. There are, of course, other scenarios that are easier to camouflage but let us hope that Apple and others will keep vigilant.

I don’t understand how is it possible for apps to see the device IMEI! I thought access was blocked

I don’t think that Apple’s implementation would make it possible to install a security update for let us say iOS 15 into iOS 14. Those versions would be too different to use the same security patches, it could break things in older versions. For older versions Apple just has to create its own security updates, just like with iOS12.
Quite probably what Apple is implementing is to make it possible to do what we already can do in macOS, install all security updates inside the same version of the system, without having to install some new functionality... That would mean that people could keep version 15.0 always secure for 1 year with no need to update to iOS 15.1 (or .2... .5 ...)