Apple Accused of 'Hypocrisy' by Ad Industry Coalition Over Its Anti-Tracking Policy - MacRumors

Apple has been accused of "hypocrisy" and "cynicism" implicit its iPhone anti-tracking argumentation by an advertisement manufacture commercialized radical that includes Meta and Google arsenic members.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is an enactment that develops standards to beryllium utilized crossed the manufacture to power and modulate online advertising. It has Google, Meta, Adobe, and galore different companies arsenic members. This week, IAB CEO David Cohen had a fewer things to accidental astir Apple's attack to ‌iPhone‌ argumentation and privacy.

Speaking astatine IAB's yearly enactment gathering (via AdAge), Cohen accused Apple of "attacking" the advertisement manufacture from the inside, saying Apple represents "cynicism and hypocrisy." Cohen said "while determination are nary shortage of extremists attacking our manufacture from the outside, determination are immoderate attacking it from the wrong out. Most notably, Apple exemplifies the cynicism and hypocrisy that underpins the prevailing extremist view."

Cohen explains that portion Apple requires apps to inquire users for support earlier tracking them crossed apps and websites owned by different companies, the institution tin way its ain users without accountability. Cohen refers to a diagnostic called App Tracking Transparency (ATT), launched successful April 2021, forcing apps to inquire users for explicit consent earlier tracking them. "It can't beryllium that 'personalization' successful the Apple ecosystem equals 'tracking' extracurricular of it," Cohen said. "That's not truly a just fight."

App Tracking Transparency pop-up required for apps

Apple requires third-party apps to inquire users for support earlier tracking them, but the company's banal apps bash not since they don't way users, according to Apple's vice president of hardware engineering Craig Federighi. In an interrogation with the Wall Street Journal successful April 2021 astir ATT, Federighi explained that nary Apple app would person the ATT pop-up since "there's nary Apple app oregon work that tracks users." Federighi added that if Apple launched an app oregon work that tracked users, it would comply with its ain App Store policy.

Apple is presently facing a people enactment lawsuit that alleges it records users' mobile enactment without their consent and contempt privateness assurances. The suit accuses Apple of providing "utterly false" assurances that ‌iPhone‌ users are successful power of their data. "Apple records, tracks, collects and monetizes analytics information — including browsing past and enactment accusation — careless of what safeguards oregon "privacy settings" consumers undertake to support their privacy," the suit reads.

Apple's ‌App Store‌ argumentation and attack to privateness person been an progressively much salient interest for planetary organizations and companies, from the EU to Meta, Google, and Spotify. This week, Spotify and others penned a missive to the EU calling Apple's argumentation "anti-competitive" and "harmful" for companies.