iOS 14.5 is out and it’s a big deal when it comes to privacy.
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency
Apple’s app tracking transparency has been the target of public outcry from the folks at Facebook, saying this makes it harder for small businesses to track customers and will drive up digital ad prices.
Privacy advocates applauded the move – which prevents apps like Facebook from tracking your movement around the internet when you’re not using the app. If you didn’t know, many apps will do that. Even if the Facebook app is closed on your phone, it’s still tracking your movements.
Here’s how Apple lays it out in the announcement:
App Tracking Transparency requires apps to get the user’s permission before tracking their data across apps or websites owned by other companies for advertising, or sharing their data with data brokers. Apps can prompt users for permission, and in Settings, users will be able to see which apps have requested permission to track so they can make changes to their choice at any time.
Apple
As the update rolls out, you’ll start to see popups the first time you load an app asking if you want to opt out of tracking.
Facebook Advertiser Changes
Facebook has implemented new advertiser policies to try to mitigate the impact.
“Advertisers can expect to see changes in Facebook’s business and advertising tools set up, audience selection, delivery, measurement, and reporting,”
Facebook
For app advertisers on FB, it means updating to Facebook SDK version 8.0, setting up your conversion schema in Even Manager, and tightly managing iOS app install campaigns.