Those who care about privacy and have an iPhone are very happy with Apple’s new feature. The privacy feature called App Tracking Transparency (ATT) available on iPhones allows users to opt out of being tracked across their phones. It was launched in April and 75 percent of users are using the feature to opt out, according to Branch.
The ATT ended the use of the identifier for advertisers (IDFA) which is a unique code. It allows apps to track a user across an app and other websites that are used. When a user says “No” to the new iOS prompt which asks a user if they will “Allow App to Track,” the developer of the app will get a string of zeros instead of the unique code. This will affect advertising campaigns.
Earlier, if a user saw an ad in a social media platform for example Facebook but checked out the site by typing it in Google and brought up the website, this could be tracked. Now, there is less data available for external websites to collect and to send this information to Facebook. So, it has become harder to track, profile and target users with ads that are specific to their browsing history.
When Apple had spoken about the feature several months ago Facebook has said that it would affect small business which is true but one of the businesses most affected by the rollout of the feature was the big advertisement of Facebook itself as it could and would probably lose some advertisers on its platform. Bloomberg has confirmed this by saying that the advertising industry said that this data removes a “single source of truth” that measures the effectiveness of advertisements.
While this feature affects both Google and Facebook financially, it is good for both Apple and the users. An iPhone user has some control over privacy while browsing. The tech giant has no need for tracking consumer preferences as Apple has its own unique commercial ecosystem through the App store for purchases.
All purchases by Apple users are routed through vetted apps in the App Store. Apple users maintain their privacy as the purchases or browsing happens only through the tech giant’s network and iOS. This builds trust with the user/customer.
