Apple’s new privacy tracking message is starting to appear for iOS 14 users [Updated]

As a privacy measure, Apple will ask iPhone and iPad app developers to ask users for permission to track their activity in other apps and websites for personalized advertising purposes, starting next year.

Before long, users’ requests to allow or deny tracking began to appear in the first beta version of iOS 14.4, released last week. A shared screenshot in the MacRumors forums shows the NBA application requesting a user’s activity tracking, with customizable fine print that indicates that the data will be used to provide users with a “better, personalized advertising experience.”

iOS 14.4 is expected to be released publicly in January or February, according to Apple’s “early next year” calendar for this change. Apple originally planned to introduce the prompt in September, but was late to give developers more time to prepare.

Last week, Facebook claimed that Apple’s new requirement would affect small businesses, adding that the move was “more about profit than privacy.” In a full-page ad, Facebook said Apple’s move will force small businesses to use subscriptions and other in-app payments for revenue, benefiting from Apple’s results.

“They are hurting small businesses and publishers who are already fighting a pandemic,” Facebook said in a blog post. “These changes will directly affect their ability to use their advertising budgets efficiently and effectively.”

In response to Facebook, Apple expressed that users deserve control and transparency. “We think it’s a simple matter of being in favor of our users,” Apple said, adding that “users should know when their data is collected and shared between other apps and websites – and they should have whether or not to allow this. “

Earlier this week, the Non-Profit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called Facebook’s campaign against Apple “high” and applauded Apple for changing its “pro-privacy.”

“When a company does the right thing for its users, the EFF will agree with it, just as we will hardly go down with companies that do the wrong thing,” EFF said. “Here, Apple is right and Facebook is wrong.”

update: The tracking request starts to appear in some applications and on previous versions of iOS 14, but quite inconsistent.