Universal, humanistic: adtech

During a speech at this year’s virtual Computers, Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP) Conference in Brussels, Tim Cook (CEO of Apple) urged online attendees to “… send a universal, humanistic response to those who claim a right to users’ private information about what should not and will not be tolerated”. This message comes at a key time for Apple who will shortly be launching App Tracking Transparency (ATT) in the next beta release of iOS 14, a new feature which will require developers to gain opt-in user consent to tracking. 

In particular, developers will need to receive the user’s permission through ATT to track them or access their device’s advertising identifier. This will involve asking users if they consent to being tracked across third party apps and websites every time they download or open an app on their iPhone.

According to Apple, this new technology – together with Apple’s new privacy “health check” feature in the App Store which requires developers to specify their privacy practices when listing an app - comes at a crucial time. During his speech at the CPDP Conference, Cook continued:

It seems no piece of information is too private or personal to be surveilled, monetized and aggregated into a 360 degree view of your life. The end result of all of this is that you are no longer the customer; you are the product. When ATT is in full effect users will have a say over this kind of tracking. Some may well think that sharing this degree of information is worth it for more targeted ads. Many others, I suspect, will not.

But not everybody agrees. In December, Facebook placed newspaper ads in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal which criticised Apple’s latest privacy changes. In particular, Facebook angled their criticism from the perspective of small business, stating in the ads that Apple’s changes will “limit businesses’ ability to run personalised ads and reach their customers effectively”. Of course, it’s not just small businesses which will suffer – Facebook is also likely to be directly impacted by Apple’s changes which will likely see many users opting out of allowing app developers to track them across apps and websites. 

Nonetheless, Apple’s moralistic approach to user data is refreshing; rarely before have users been given such tangible control over their own online commoditisation. And, yet, Apple may simply be the first mover in this new approach to prioritising the privacy of its users; indeed, we await the final rollout of Google’s Privacy Sandbox (due to be completed in 2022), as well as the final decision from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) following the long-standing investigation into the data-sharing practices of Facebook and WhatsApp. In the meantime, we wonder: could a more ethical approach to user tracking be here to stay?

Check back on adtekr for further updates on both ATT and the DPC’s final verdict in the Facebook/WhatsApp investigation.