According to the latest data from Flurry Analysis, only the 4% of iPhone users in the US and 12% in the rest of the world has chosen to allow monitoring of third-party apps. The data is based on a sampling of 2.5 million iOS users active every day in the US and 5.3 million users in the rest of the world (including Italy). It is a sample data, therefore with a margin of error, but it allows to have a clear indication of what the trend is, even after the numerous campaigns for and against the tracking and privacy of those who use digital tools.
Flurry, a company owned by Verizon Media, public statistics updated weekly across a broad spectrum of equipment and uses. In this case the sample is centered on iPhone users, Apple’s smartphones, which have updated the operating system to the latest version 14.5. Among the innovations introduced there is in particular the one for blocking the tracking which is part of a larger effort by the Cupertino company for diversify its position from that of other tech greats, such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, which instead have more invasive tracking and data collection policies for users.
The new feature, which has been introduced lagging behind Apple’s developer conference announcements of June 2020, si chiama ATT, App Tracking Transparency, and immediately attracted the wrath of Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg has opposed with some media campaigns to Apple’s pro-privacy stance, together with some trade associations in the digital advertising sector.
Apple announced the ATT lock system before Google, which instead has implemented another type of strategy, that blocks all third-party cookies inside your Chrome browser but then profiles the same even if in a different and proprietary way users. Google was equally criticized (if not more) by industry associations such as Enpa and Emma, and from businesses.
Instead, the ttechnology used by Apple is an update and improvement of the anti-tracking systems already present on iOS and iPadOS (the versions of the Californian company’s operating systems for iPad smartphones and tablets). Apple understands it as a set of “rules for good publicity” e refers to the words of the founder Steve Jobs, who passed away in 2011, who said: “I think people are smart and some want to share more data than others. So ask. Ask him every time. Until they tell you to stop because they are tired of being asked. Tell people precisely what you will do with their data. ”
More than 96 out of 100 American users don’t want to be tracked by advertising every day
For this reason, Apple’s technical choice to protect privacy is considered a reasonable closure to trackers, which opens the door to calibrated and moderate advertising, always under the control of users. Practically, a choice that moves the needle of the scale to the side of the user and not of those who want to monetize their users. The response from users gathered by Flurry is interesting: free to choose, iPhone users apparently move en masse to the side of refusing to be tracked. From the point of view of who uses the Apple phone this means more privacy but also less personalized advertising because they are less focused on personal data collected by the big names in the sector to create a profile of use and therefore less personal information collected. The consequences for theand companies operating in the digital advertising sector however, they are still debated.
With iOS 14.5 and later, available since April 26, the option to completely block monitoring is activated from the menu Privacy> Tracking of the Settings system app. If, on the other hand, you opt to have an “Activity tracking request” every time from all the apps that want to track the user, they must then ask for authorization through a modal menu that allows you not to grant it, and therefore to block them indefinitely. Also, standard Apple blocks tracking for all new iPhones just activated.
