We Should Be Skeptical About Apple's Ad Tracking Transparency's Positives.
A while back, Apple released iOS 14.5, which introduced the App Tracking Transparency feature. The App Tracking Transparency feature prompts users if they want to be "tracked", which is where data coming from you is sent to a central location, usually for the purposes of targeted advertising. Its live implementation came as a surprise to no one, as Apple was announcing it for a year before it was finally implemented, presumably to give developers time to prepare.
The common narrative is that app tracking transparency is a benefit to consumers whose data will now be harder to collect because of the increased difficulty of tracking on iOS devices based on these new rules. The best argument of proponents of this feature is that people have an inalienable right to privacy, of which the activities of users on their device is not exempted from. They will also point out an entire ecosystem of ad networks--perhaps some of the most egregious of which is Grindr, which is claimed to be sharing data with up to 35 different third parties. Overall, a s far as online businesses are concerned, apps whose business model is mostly based on advertising will probably be much less feasible, especially if their medium is mostly on iOS devices.
Since its implementation, most users chose to opt out of being tracked, with a whopping 96% of users choosing no. According to the statistic, the sample is based off of US users. The global number is higher at around 12%; however, it is still a huge loss in terms of possible tracking data.
