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Now, according to a new report, Apple's in-house tracking tool is under fire. A privacy group has reportedly filed a complaint against Apple's device identification service for advertisers.
A Vienna-based privacy group called NOYB (“None Of Your Business”) has filed complaints with data protection authorities in Spain and Germany, calling on them to ban Apple’s “Identification Service for Advertisers” (IDFA). Bloomberg. Every iPhone Apple sells is tagged with a unique identifier that allows advertisers to track users' actions when using apps. The group argues that the service allows Apple and various apps to track users and collect data about their web usage without their consent.
Data protection & privacy: Changes were already planned under iOS 14
With our complaints, we want to enforce a simple principle: trackers are illegal unless a user freely consents," said NOYB lawyer Stefano Rossetti in a statement. "Smartphones are the most intimate device for most people, and they must be equipped without trackers by default.
App developers have historically used IDFA to target users with ads and track their performance across devices. Next year, however, Apple will make a change so that apps will have to obtain customer consent before using IDFA in iOS 14. The change was announced in June alongside iOS 14 and was originally supposed to take effect with the release of Apple's latest mobile operating system. However, the company decided to delay the anti-tracking feature until 2021 to "give developers time to make the necessary changes." delay was only announced after major app developers and advertising networks like Facebook spoke out against the feature.
More data protection & privacy: Mozilla has already started a petition
Facebook warned advertisers on its platform that the change could reduce revenue for Audience Network publishers by more than 50 percent. Apple is also facing an antitrust complaint from French advertisers who fear losing their revenue. Last year, Mozilla launched a petition calling on Apple to implement an automatic monthly reset of identifiers to make it more difficult for companies to build a profile of users over time. "It's as if a salesperson follows you from store to store while you shop, recording every thing you look at," the petition argued. "Not very private at all." How successful the privacy group will be with its complaint remains to be seen. AirPods Pro on special offer at Amazon – available now. (Photo by blackboard / Bigstockphoto)
