If you've recently updated to iOS 14.5
you might be getting a lot of messages talking about App Tracking.
If you're not sure what that means don't worry,
this is the video for you.
Okay, so here's a popup
that you're likely to see a lot of now
iOS 14.5 has been released.
But what on earth does it mean?
The first thing to know
is that every device has something called
an IDFA
- that's an Identifier for Advertisers.
To make this easier to understand,
imagine the device on screen now
has the IDFA number
A B C 1 2 3
(Of course in reality that number is a lot longer)
and every device has its own unique number.
To make a bit more sense of this
let's imagine a common situation
- I'm using my phone one morning
and I'm using some 3rd party apps to try and plan my day.
I quite fancy going to the beach today
so if I'm using an App to get directions to the beach
then it's possible that the App itself is collecting the data I'm giving it.
Like for example my current location, where I'm going,
or the time of day I'm travelling.
And then this can be sent back to the Apps server
with a link to my IDFA number.
That information could then be linked to other things I've done on my phone
but in different Apps.
For example sending a message to a friend,
purchasing a book from an online store,
playing a level of a game
or even just checking my emails.
All of that information could be collected by third party apps
and that data could then be sent back
to their servers using my IDFA number
which links it to my device.
So despite coming from different apps,
the data brokers who work behind the scenes
to pull this data together can link it
all using my IDFA number
and they can use that data to build a really accurate
picture of me as a user, as a consumer
and just generally as a person.
That means they'll know which beach I like to go to,
what book I'm currently reading and who I've been in contact with recently.
They can then sell this data to advertisers
and those companies can target adverts at me because they know what I like.
The surprising thing is it's not just one company doing this
in fact on average there are around 6 trackers per app
which is crazy when you think about how many different companies
could have access to that information.
Individually it may not seem like much,
but when you start pulling all of that information together
it's quite surprising how much those companies can know about us.
So in essence that single IDFA number
can help bad actors build up a really
thorough and detailed picture of who I am as a person
and what my digital habits are.
But, they can go even further than that.
Imagine a book company has got a new novel out,
and they see that I've been reading books.
That means I could be a good customer for them.
That book company then wants to get their advert
in front of my eyes on my device.
So the next time I open up an App that's got an advertising slot in it
A really quick process will happen in the background, called an Auction.
And those companies will bid
to have their advert displayed to you as the user.
Now the book company who knows that I like Sci-Fi books
will be willing to pay a lot more money
than a cat food company who doesn't know if I've got a cat or not.
That means the book advert will likely win,
and that'll be the advert that I see when the app loads.
You can see just how valuable that data collected earlier is,
because that book company knows that I'm a potential customer
so that advertising slot is worth a lot of money to them.
Of course those companies will then want to be sure
that they spent their advertising money wisely.
They'll then be able to keep an eye on your shopping in different apps
to see if you've actually bought their book or not.
By collecting more data linked to your IDFA in other apps,
the data brokers will be able to report back to the company
to tell them if you've made that purchase or not.
That's where App Tracking Transparency comes in.
So one clever thing about these IDFA numbers is
that they're actually made by the software on your device.
That means they can be changed, or even withheld
at any time.
So that means these new pop-up messages that you're
Going to start seeing on iOS 14.5 and later
are actually hugely important.
You, as the customer,
will be able to decide if you're happy for a certain app
to have access to your IDFA number
or if you'd rather keep it a secret from that app.
You can choose this on an app-by-app basis
(not just as one setting for the whole device)
and you can decide who you want to trust with your data or not.
Don't worry if you change your mind -
you can go into Settings, then Privacy, then Tracking
and you can change your preferences to allow or deny tracking
to any app, at any time.
It's a really big choice to make
and it's important that you know how it works
before you just tap on any button to get rid of that pop-up message.
This message will begin showing up in any app
that collects data in this way,
and by pressing the Do Not Allow button you can cut off that link completely.
This won't affect how the app itself works,
or even limit any functionality
- it'll just stop your data being used in the background.
A lot of advertising companies are getting quite worried about this new change
because it could potentially mean they've got a lot less accurate
data to sell on to other companies.
I guess, now you have all the facts,
it's up to you to decide if that's a bad thing or not.
I really hope you've found this quick explainer video useful,
If you've got any questions or suggestions
do let me know in the comments down below
- and don't forget you can always hit that like and
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