A polished image at the expense of others?

Apple customers who have installed the latest iOS operating system can decide for themselves whether they want to be “tracked” by apps for advertising purposes or not – much to the annoyance of Facebook & Co.

Since April 26th, Apple has been encouraging users of its iPhones and tablets to use data more sparingly – regardless of opposition from other online companies. After upgrading to the latest iOS 14.5 operating system, customers can decide for themselves whether or not apps can be used for advertising purposes. This tracking makes it possible to create an individual profile of users because every iPhone has its own number. Advertising groups can use these to display personalized ads across websites and apps. This is why advertisements for goods that have been searched for appear again and again on various apps. With the new iOS system, users of new apps are now automatically asked whether they want to allow advertising tracking. Industry observers assume that many users will reject tracking for advertising purposes.

Allegations from Facebook & Co.

Apple is acting as a privacy advocate – and angered social network providers like Facebook, who generate a large part of their income through advertising. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg accuses Apple of only pursuing its own business goals with the “App Tracking Transparency” (ATT) that has now been introduced. The iPhone manufacturer wants to ditch free apps that are financed by advertising in order to be able to earn money on paid apps and paid software subscriptions in the App Store. Shortly before the update was published, eight associations from the media and advertising industry submitted a complaint about abuse to the Federal Cartel Office. “We’ll take a look at them now,” said a spokesman for the agency. Apple responded to the complaint: “We believe that privacy is a fundamental human right.” The data belonged to the users “and they should be able to choose how their data is used and by whom”. You got support from authorities and data protection officers for the function.

Consumer advocates advocate innovation

There is praise from consumer advocates. “For consumers, it is gratifying that Apple will make personalized advertising tracking on its devices more difficult in the future and thus strengthen data protection,” said the team leader for digital and media at the German Consumer Association, Lina Ehrig, of the Reuters news agency. Of course, Apple must respect competition law and not disadvantage third parties in an inadmissible manner.