Apps that track phone user activity for more targeted marketing will now have to get permission from iPhone and iPad users.
The full impact of this new privacy protection feature was only supposed to emerge in 2021. However, MacRumors reported that the prompt for user consent on such apps have been appearing as early as September 2020 when the iOS 14 launched.
But now that we are in 2021, there is new concern about the impact this will have on platforms that rely on collecting user data. It’s no surprise that Facebook is not happy about it.
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It’s not about us!
However, the social media giant doesn’t admit to its concern, certainly not. It’s all about the little guy. That’s the way Facebook choses to spin its opposition to Apple’s privacy measures.
In the middle of December, Facebook took out full page ads in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post in which it presented the impact of Apple’s move as an existential threat to business and [Gasp!] even the internet.
MacRumors copied the text of the Facebook ad in a post on December 17:
Apple vs. the free internet
Apple plans to roll out a forced software update that will change the internet as we know it—for the worse.
Take your favorite cooking sites or sports blogs. Most are free because they show advertisements.
Apple’s change will limit their ability to run personalized ads. To make ends meet, many will have to start charging you subscription fees or adding more in-app purchases, making the internet much more expensive and reducing high-quality free content.
Beyond hurting apps and websites, many in the small business community say this change will be devastating for them too, at a time when they face enormous challenges. They need to be able to effectively reach the people most interested in their products and services to grow.
Forty-four percent of small to medium businesses started or increased their usage of personalized ads on social media during the pandemic, according to a new Deloitte study. Without personalized ads, Facebook data shows that the average small business advertiser stands to see a cut of over 60% in their sales for every dollar they spend.
Small businesses deserve to be heard. We’re standing up to Apple for our small business customers and our communities.
Ads always should have some clear CTA, and Facebook’s is no different. It included a link to a new “Speak Up For Small Business” page, intended to encourage people to lend their voices to the charge against Apple.
Apple’s affirmation
Well, Apple wasn’t buying it. The company said that the new feature reflected its position of protecting its users and letting them make an informed choice about what they’re allowing on their mobile devices. Its response was sharing a tweet here:
Apple’s response, complete with a graphic Apple created: “We believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users. Users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites — and they should have the choice to allow that or not.”
A boo for Facebook and a yay for Apple from the EEF
Apple does have the backing of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). On December 18, it ran an article entitled Facebook’s Laughable Campaign Against Apple Is Really Against Users and Small Businesses that dismissed the contention as “a laughable attempt from Facebook to distract you from its poor track record of anticompetitive behavior and privacy issues as it tries to derail pro-privacy changes from Apple that are bad for Facebook’s business.”
The EEF goes on to unequivocally denounce the social media giant for its hypocrisy:
“Make no mistake: this latest campaign from Facebook is one more direct attack against our privacy and, despite its slick packaging, it’s also an attack against other businesses, both large and small.”
As for the new iOS measure, it’s just doing what should be done, it explains and does not, in fact, remove all forms of tracking, the EEF explains:
“It’s normal for apps to be required to request the user permission for access to specific device functions or data, and third-party tracking should be no different. (In an important limitation of App Tracking Transparency, however, note that this change does not impact first party tracking and data collection by the app itself.) “
The article then details some of the options users have and point out, “This new feature from Apple is one more step in the right direction, reducing developer abuse by giving users knowledge and control over their own personal data.”
The impact
No question about it, a lot of mobile users are oblivious about how much data they are passively sharing through their apps. Consequently, those apps that depend on people’s blissful ignorance to get what they want will be out of luck.
Certainly, Facebook will see a negative impact from this, but they are not the only ones. According to a CNBC report, it also is expected to have an impact on Snap, Twitter and Pinterest because of their reliance on such tracking for marketing.
The thing is that marketers should have anticipated this because the general trend toward informed consent for active opting-in has already been set by privacy measures like the GDPR and CCPA. Though mobile devices do give one the means to track people, it is crossing a line to do so without their informed consent.
Effective marketing is not just about using what you learn about people to target them effectively but about building a relationship with them that strengthens trust. Trust is not won by tricking people into sharing things.
Accordingly, Apple is 100% right. If your customers do not regard app tracking as a win-win solution that benefits them, then you either have to build a case for it or just gracefully bow out.