Apple's anti-tracking privacy feature looms large after the company announced it will arrive with the next iOS beta, which is set for launch in spring of 2021.
The day that Facebook and many other app developers dread is fast approaching with the announcement of Apple that its next iOS beta will usher in the anti-tracking privacy feature. Reports say that Apple's next iOS beta is set for launch in spring of 2021.
The Cupertino tech giant timed its announcement about the impending arrival of the anti-tracking privacy feature with Data Privacy Day, a global event occurring annually every January 28. To commemorate the occasion, Apple released a new report outlining data tracking practices of some companies and underscored the efforts of the Cupertino giant to stop these practices. These include bringing forth its new anti-tracking feature that the company said is coming with the next iOS beta cycle ahead of its launch in spring of 2021.
Aside from releasing an anti-tracking feature, Apple's efforts also include its new App Store privacy nutrition labels, a feature that require developers to disclose what data they collect, how they collect it, or whether and how it links to the user. Apple released the feature in December 2020 and required all iOS developers to update their apps to include the privacy label. In the case of the upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature, which Apple said would arrive in spring with its next iOS beta, many developers, particularly Facebook, raised a howl about it.
appleinsider: Apple's anti-tracking privacy feature arrives in next iOS beta, launches in spring https://t.co/t2kHX8q5qr — Jay-Z (@z4mp1) January 29, 2021
A Momentous Change To The Identifier For Advertiser
During its announcement to commemorate Data Privacy Day, the Cupertino tech giant said that its anti-tracking privacy feature would arrive with the next iOS beta update set for spring this year. Apple said the feature is a significant transformation to the Identifier for Advertisier (IDFA) tag that requires applications to ask clearly the permission of users before tracking them. The company revealed that they initially scheduled its release in 2020 but pushed it back for this year, 2021.
The feature will opt users out by default from ad tracking functions of an app. Users who downloaded the app and opened it for the first time will prompt the launch of a dialogue box with two options, namely, "Allow Tracking" and "Ask Apps Not to Track." The anti-tracking privacy feature launches in "early spring" along with Apple's next iOS beta update.
A Day In The Life Of Data
Aside from making the anti-tracking privacy feature announcement, Apple also released a privacy-focused report and highlighted the talk that Apple CEO Tim Cook gave at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference today in Brussels. The privacy report is titled "A Day in the Life of Your Data." It provides users with an illustrated guide to cross-app and website data tracking often used by companies and data brokers. The talk also highlights some tracking practices and statistics, underscoring the need for an anti-tracking privacy feature in iOS devices, which Apple said will arrive with the next iOS beta update set for release in spring of 2021.
