PSA: Always Ask Apps Not To Track You
A few weeks ago, Apple issued an iOS update with a killer new feature to protect users from unwanted tracking. It’s pretty straightforward, the policy is called “App Tracking Transparency,” and it requires applications to display a pop-up box asking the user for their permission to track their activity across other apps and websites. You should always click “Ask App not to Track.”
It seems pretty obvious: nobody really looks forward to or enjoys being tracked. We’ve all gotten those creepily specific ads that make us think our devices are secretly listening to us, and it’s unsettling. The truth, though, is that those ads aren’t a result of apps using your microphone to spy on you (99% of the time, at least). They’re the result of them using your activity on other apps and websites to spy on you. Apple allowing users to cut off the flow of data to the mysterious surveillance advertising companies is huge.
Here are two important things to consider when an app asks for permission to track you, (because they'll undoubtedly try to convince you that you should click “Allow”):
Apple has forbidden app developers from using any means to track your activity if you click “Ask App not to Track.” That means if you don’t give them permission to track you, they aren’t allowed to use Apple’s built in advertising tracker, but they’re also forbidden from coming up with their own creative ways to track you.
Apple has forbidden app developers from punishing you for asking them not to track you. Apps aren’t allowed to reduce functionality, force you to pay money, or do anything else to you if you select “Ask App not to Track.”
Violating either of those two policies can result in the app being removed from the App Store, so the developers don’t have a choice but to comply with your decision.
Again, I’ll emphasize: you should ALWAYS click “Ask App not to Track.” But actually, you can do even better than that. If you don’t want to have to deal with the permission pop-ups, there is a sort of master switch that lets you automatically refuse tracking for all apps. To do so, go to Settings → Privacy → Tracking, and then turn OFF the toggle that says “Allow Apps to Request to Track.” Below that toggle is a list of individual toggles for each app that has requested to track you, if you’re interested. Just make sure they’re all switched off.
You may wonder why Apple doesn’t just save you the trouble and cut off this access from the jump, why even make us tap the button? After all, nobody wants to be tracked. The answer is complex, but essentially, Apple is on the most stable legal ground if they let users make the choice for themselves, and they probably also want to make a moral argument about just how many consumers aren’t okay with being tracked without their permission.
Regardless, these protections are strong and I’m glad Apple is giving us more control over our data. The notion that privacy is a thing of the past and that “everyone already has all your data” is simply not true, and it’s time we let the advertising industry know that they aren’t entitled to knowing all the intimate details of our lives so they can exploit us and convince us to buy more crap.*