Apple recently released the latest version of their mobile operating system, including a new feature that has concerned advertising groups to the point where they banded together in order to write an open letter of complaint. This feature has been dubbed “Intelligent Tracking Prevention” by Apple and makes it harder for advertisers to follow the digital footprint of users of the web. The way the feature does this is by disabling certain digital cookies, text files that are used to track users as they surf around the web. (Wycislik-Wilson, 2017)
By making it more difficult for advertisers to track users, and provide specifically targeted ads, Apple has made users and privacy advocates alike happy. These changes will make it harder for advertisers to build up consumer profiles for targeted advertising. In addition to this, Apple is using machine learning in order to determine which cookies are useful to users and which ones are privacy-invading (Wycislik-Wilson, 2017).
However, not all parties involved stand by Apple’s decision to implement this feature. The earlier mentioned group of advertising companies claims that this new functionality would create a haphazard set of rules over the use of cookies. This would then hinder the innovation of digital companies as they depend on consistent and applicable standards in order to build personalized content and services (Wycislik-Wilson, 2017). Some, like Alex Hern (2017), speculate that this could turn into an arms race as advertising companies have been spotted experimenting with different ways to track users.
In a digital environment where Facebook is already able to identify when teenagers are feeling “insecure” or “worthless”, this might just have devastating consequences for surfers of the web (Wong, 2017). The experiments to track users, spotted by Hern (2017), include measuring the amount of battery life left and seeing the brightness of the room a user is in. Tapping into this data could allow trackers to let adverts follow you from home to work and back each day (Hern, 2017).
I wholeheartedly stand by Apple’s decision to protect their users from unwanted gathering of their web browsing history. However, they should follow up on what they started and continue protecting users from these various tracking initiatives by advertising companies. What do you think about Apple’s recent initiative to protect privacy?
References
Hern, A. (2017, September 19). Apple cuts cookies – but there is more to come in the online advertising arms race. Retrieved September 24, 2017 from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2017/sep/19/apple-crumbles-cookies-but-there-is-more-to-come-in-the-online-advertising-arms-race#img-1
Wong, J.C. (2017, September 20). Facebook to tighten ad targeting after antisemitic ‘fail’, says Sheryl Sandberg. Retrieved September 24, 2017 from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/20/facebook-jew-haters-ad-targeting-sheryl-sandberg
Wycislik-Wilson, M. (2017, September 20). Privacy: With iOS 11 and Safari’s cookie blocking, Apple is kicking advertisers in the teeth. Retrieved September 24, 2017 from https://betanews.com/2017/09/20/ios-11-safari-apple-blocks-ad-cookies/
Hi Denis,
Thanks for this insightful post. I do stand by your opinion regarding Apple’s positive initiative, however I don’t think that Apple can continue to protect users from other tracking initiatives by advertising activities. Apple cannot do it alone.
I think that Apple’s initiative merely has a symbolic impact than a tangible impact, as ad tech markets are likely to innovate again. By setting up the Intelligent Tracking Prevention, competitors such as Google and Facebook would also benefit the most. Daily visits to Google or Facebook would keep the tracking capabilities persistent, with Apple ending up empty handed. As Google and Facebook have their own initiatives concerning tracking internet users, the only way for users of Apple to be protected from tracking initiatives by advertising companies is to hope these three great companies shall put their individual interests aside and cooperate with each other. This way, they can bring a halt to all online advertising activities and we can all have a happily live on internet without privacy concerns.
Hi Diyari,
Thank you for your comment and my apologies for the late reply!
I do not think that Apple’s initiative merely has a symbolic impact simply due to the fact that advertising companies are likely to innovate again. I agree that this step taken by Apple should not remain the only one, but any step in the direction of protecting valuable user data is a step in the right direction, in my opinion. Other companies should join the fight against invasion of privacy but I do not think it should be the companies you mentioned.
The companies you mentioned, Facebook and Google, are the ones that are poised to benefit the most from the introduction of this Intelligent Tracking Prevention. As the system will use machine learning to identify tracking behaviour, websites that are visited regularly and make use of these cookies to function will hardly be affected. I, for one, make use of services provided by Google daily, whereas Facebook has what is called a “Facebook Pixel”. This Facebook pixel can be put on a website by the creator in order to track and collect ad-related data such as conversion rates and valuable user data. This way, the largest two companies will be mostly unaffected by this intelligent tracking prevention. Google took the initiative to develop an ad-blocker for Chrome, but all I think this will do is further solidify the position of these advertising giants while phasing out smaller advertising companies.
This might actually not be such a bad thing, as both Facebook as well as Google are members of the “Coalition for Better Ads”. However, these companies are still the ones that are collecting all of your data and thus are not the ones that are going to protect your privacy.
Sources:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/6/15747300/apple-safari-ad-tracking-cookie-blocker-google-facebook-privacy
https://www.betterads.org/coalition-for-better-ads-releases-initial-better-ads-standards-for-desktop-and-mobile-web/
Dear Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to give my compliments Denis, it is a very interesting and outstanding article about the worrying privacy issues of the people of today who live in the era of digitalization and technology.
I think Apple Inc., with this initiative, is doing a extremely good job for protecting the human race in terms of their private online space. I, for one, out of proportion dislike the idea that marketing agencies or advertising companies are able to track my personal digital footsteps in the online world. Every time I experience a specifically targeted ad on my mobile smart device, I wonder what more these so called firms could make tracking of my other personal daily online activities. I would definitely use this new feature and I think this innovation will make Apple Inc. great once again.
However, I do not agree upon the comments mentioned by Diyari Harki. Symbolic impact? I do not even know what you mean by this. I stand by the arguments of Denis, mentioning Facebook and Google is totally irrelevant in this issue. Facebook and Google are great companies who are dealing with privacy concerns in their own manner. Appointing these firm in this article was, in my opinion, completely out of order.
Thank you.