Apple wanted to build extensive data protection into iOS 14. This is intended to make it more difficult for apps and websites to collect extensive user data. However, activation is not scheduled to follow until 2021. Among other things, the “data octopus” Facebook has been highly critical.
Postponed for now
At first, Apple received a lot of praise for its plans to restrict the data collection of apps. But obviously not everyone seemed to be happy about the update. Especially the social media giant Facebook objected. The new feature was originally planned to be released at the same time as iOS 14 was launched. But now it was postponed. According to Apple, they want to give the developers more time to adapt their apps accordingly.
What should be different?
At least in theory, Apple’s plans sound revolutionary. After all, this time the focus really seems to be on user privacy. In particular, the innovations should prevent apps and websites from collecting data that has nothing to do with the specific application. User tracking should only be possible in exceptional cases. For this, however, the developers need the knowledge of a so-called identification number. In the sense of “cookie permission”, an application must then ask the user for permission when accessing the “identification number”. Here it becomes clear why Facebook is anything but happy about this. After all, the entire advertising business of the social network is based on this very data.
Apple is privacy important
The Californian corporation “believes that technology should protect the fundamental right of users to privacy. That’s why Apple wants “users to be provided with tools that allow them to understand which apps and websites share their information with other companies for promotional or tracking purposes. Incidentally, if you have given permission to collect data by mistake, you should be able to revoke it easily. We’re excited to see if Apple will be able to put its plans into practice in a fully functional way. This would definitely be a step in the right direction for the data protection of iPhone users.
