7th November 2020, Kathmandu
Apple Inc. has had advertising companies and publishers file a complaint with France’s competition authority, according to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on October 28. The complaint argues that the privacy changes that the company plans to roll out are anti-competitive.
Apple’s operating software will require apps to get opt-in permission from users to collect their advertising identifier. It’s a key number used to deliver targeted ads and check how ad campaigns perform.
The new software will ask the user if the apps can track their behavior for the purpose of personalized ads.
Tracking users – Challenge to Online Privacy
The complaint alleges that Apple’s language will repel most users and render the advertising identifier useless for the vast online-ad ecosystem.
In a survey by Tap Research Inc, 95% of the respondents don’t want apps tracking them. That is if they have a choice.
In fact, the companies that are behind this complaint say only a few users will allow apps to track them.
As a result, it will be harder for companies, from game makers to news publishers, to sell personalized ads. Similarly, this makes the situation tough for the middlemen in those transactions.
DMG Media, operator of the Daily Mail and Mail Online first raised concern with the justice department in August. Their concern was that the ad-tracking prompt would be anti-competitive. The case is one of the first legal challenges to online-privacy measures on antitrust grounds.
Also read: Apple Has Become The Most Used Brand For Brand Phishing
The company initially planned to roll out the change in September 2020. However, a delay pushed it early next year following high-profile criticism from Facebook and others.
Facebook Inc. said in August that the changes would affect its brokering of ad sales in outside apps. Apple responded by saying that “privacy is a fundamental right” adding that “a user’s data belongs to them and they should get to decide whether or not to share the data, and with whom.”
Stakeholders concerned with the inability to track user activities
Privacy advocates say that consumers should have as much control as possible over how their data is collected and used. In recent years, a push toward greater online privacy has resulted in new laws around the world.
Europe especially particularly much more privacy-focused, already requires prompts according to the European privacy law.
Therefore, the complaint centers on Apple’s move to introduce its own, more alarming language asking users to opt-in.
Some publishers have expressed concern about this matter. They say that they will not be able to charge as much to show ads to the iPhone users who opt out of tracking.
The companies that run ads to encourage users to download a specific app rely on Apple’s identifier to track how effective their campaign is. That’s a USD 57.8 Billion global markets in 2019 according to Apps Flyer.
This prompt will not apply to Apple’s own digital-ad business, which Arete Research estimated to have generated almost $4 billion in revenue so far in 2020.
App Store and Apple News display these personalized ads based on where the users go and what users do in Apple’s apps. This tracking is possible to be opted out of through the settings in iOS.