App Tracking Transparency

Meta is facing a class action lawsuit after both Facebook and Instagram were found to be using an App Tracking Transparency workaround to track users on the web, even after they were denied permission to do so.

The company is accused not just of breaking Apple’s privacy rules, but also violating both state and federal laws …

A report shows the average price of in-app purchase has increased 40% on iOS since last year, and one of the main reasons is Apple’s App Tracking Transparency function that it’s making it more expensive to reach the right users.

There have been plenty of signs lately that the Apple ad business is growing fast, and that the company plans to turn it into a significant source of revenue. But while there is plenty of money to be made, some are accusing Apple of making a U-turn – and even Machiavellian-level plotting to take business from companies like Google and Facebook.

The latest report suggests that Apple has quadrupled its hires for ad roles in the past couple of years, and one research group has suggested the company’s ad business could be worth $30B a year by 2026 …

With iOS 14.5, Apple introduced its App Tracking Transparency to help users choose whether they wanted to be tracked or not by apps and advertisers. Ever since then, the company is making tons of privacy changes to ensure users have better control of their data.

With that, Facebook and other companies are losing money with their advertisement initiatives. But, apart from the big players, small businesses are also suffering from these changes, according to a new study.

A European court ruling could result in ad tracking rules becoming much stricter in future. The court essentially set a precedent that inferred data is still personal data.

This means that if a company can work out things about you, then that information is protected every bit as much as personal data you provided directly …

Yesterday, Facebook/Meta reported its first-ever quarterly revenue drop. While the company highlighted challenges faced by US companies as well as worries of recession, Wall Street analysts believe TikTok’s competition and Apple’s privacy changes are a concern for the company in the near term.

An App Tracking Transparency antitrust investigation is underway, on the basis that Apple requires third-party apps to ask permission for tracking, but the company does not do so for its own apps.

The investigation has been launched in Germany, which is a somewhat surprising fact …

A “massive” Facebook hiring freeze has been announced, which the company says will affect “almost every team across the company.”

Parent company Meta told employees that four factors were behind the decision, and that Apple’s introduction of App Tracking Transparency was the first of these …

It’s been one year since Apple released its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature – which is a way to improve consumer privacy where users can choose to opt-out of third-party app tracking. A new article from Recode takes a look back at the first year of Apple’s privacy feature. 

Since App Tracking Transparency was introduced last year with iOS 14.5, every iPhone and iPad app now has to ask users whether they want to be tracked or not. However, some developers have figured out new ways to keep tracking iOS users even when they opt out of being tracked by third-party apps.

It has been almost a year since Apple introduced iOS 14.5 with App Tracking Transparency, a feature that lets users choose whether or not they want to be tracked by third-party apps. While the number of users opting to let apps track them was low at first, a new research from Adjust shows that some people have been changing their mind about this option.

Almost a year ago, Apple released iOS 14.5. Alongside the ability to unlock the iPhone with an Apple Watch while wearing a mask and new emojis, the company also brought its controversial App Tracking Transparency feature to life. Twelve months after, a new report indicates how ATT could impact revenue from Facebook, Twitter, Snap, and YouTube in 2022.

Facebook and Instagram‘s parent company Meta has labelled Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature ‘harmful.’ One analyst said that the privacy measure could be the biggest challenge the company ever faces.

A report today says that the loss of ability to target Facebook and Instagram users by their interests is seeing businesses abandon the platform in favor of Google ads …

Google has announced plans for blocking cross-app tracking on Android phones, following Apple’s lead on iPhones, claims a new report today.

However, there are a number of problems with the report, suggesting it may be a case of ‘The headline giveth, and the small print taketh away’ …

A new report estimates that Apple’s app privacy policy – aka App Tracking Transparency – will cost social media companies almost $10B in the second half of this year.

It says that’s because their unique selling point (USP) was the ability to target particular demographics and interest groups, and that now they can no longer offer that, advertisers are taking their business elsewhere …

Some popular iPhone apps are using some sneaky techniques to uniquely identify you, even if you refused permission for app tracking. The data they are gathering includes everything from your iPhone’s Last Restart Time to your screen brightness setting measured to 15 significant digits.

A former iCloud engineer says that this type of privacy workaround makes Apple’s App Tracking Transparency rules a “dud” …

Both Twitter and Snap have reported strong growth, and the latter has said that it was seeing higher rates of App Tracking Transparency opt-in than has been generally reported.

Snap had previously warned that it expected ad revenue to be hit by the feature, which reduces the opportunity to sell higher-priced personalized ads, but two factors meant that the impact was lower than expected …

With iOS 14.5 released to the public earlier this year, iPhone and iPad users now have the ability to easily opt out of cross-site and cross-app tracking and targeting. New data from analytics firm Branch indicates that just 25% of users are opting in to tracking, which is causing panic in the advertising industry.

With Apple’s App Tracking Transparency having been available for several months now, advertisers have begun shifting their spending patterns. A new report indicates that the prices for mobile ads targeting iOS users have dropped, while prices targeting Android users have increased.

Apple has successfully defeated an attempt by TikTok and others to bypass App Tracking Transparency in China.

Chinese tech giants believed that Apple wouldn’t dare to block popular apps like TikTok and QQ, but Apple apparently called their bluff …

A bipartisan data privacy bill would force all tech giants to follow Apple’s example in allowing users to opt out of tracking by apps and websites.

Apple recently switched on App Tracking Transparency, which lets users decide whether or not they want to be tracked by apps in order to deliver personalized ads …