Wired
“Any contact will leave traces.” This is a generalization of Roca’s law. For a long time, Rocca’s law has been regarded as the golden rule of criminal investigation.
As everyone knows, after a hundred years, the above sentence is not only used to target crimes, almost everyone living in the digital age is covered by this sentence for research, and the observer behind it is the Internet company. The so-called traces are your personal data, from browsing habits to length of use, to location information and even photos and identity.
As weak individuals in digital life, we have almost no initiative in front of Internet service providers. But now, Apple has given a set of plans to let us regain the initiative in personal data.
Apple’s newest privacy regulations
With the official release of iOS 14.5, App Tracking Transparency (hereinafter referred to as ATT) has officially landed. ATT can restrict apps from reading the IDFA (Identifier for Advertising) of your iOS device, which is regarded as the most stringent set of privacy rules in iOS.
Simply put, after updating to iOS 14.5, when an App wants to track your usage data through IDFA, it needs to ask through a pop-up window; if you click “Require App not to track”, the App will not be able to access your other mobile phones. Usage data on apps and websites.
Before iOS 14, users only need to authorize once, and the entire device will be authorized by IDFA, and this switch is still turned on by default.
Ad tracking settings prior to iOS 14
In this way, App services will not be able to ask for your data, and hooliganism can also be curbed. Of course, ATT is not an ad blocker and will not completely eliminate ads, but it can reduce the degree of relevance. It is aimed at precise push, for example, when you just talk about a certain item, the App will push you related advertisements, and so on.
The power of the new regulations is beyond doubt. Imagine that a pop-up window like the one in the picture below appears on your screen, asking if you are allowed to track you. Would you click to allow or deny it? I believe most people will choose to refuse.
The important thing is that in Apple’s ecology, apps must unconditionally obey the new terms, otherwise they will not be able to submit updates in the future or even be removed from the shelves.
Rogue software killer?
Apple’s new privacy policy reflects the helplessness of ordinary people in the digital age. Android users may feel a little deeper on this issue.
First of all, due to the lack of strong restrictions, the problem of excessive requesting of permissions for Android software has been criticized by people. In May 2019, the People’s Daily quoted an expert survey result in an article saying:
“Currently App has nearly 40 permissions of various types, but most of the permissions do not match the normal needs of the App to implement functions… More than 60% of apps apply for many sensitive permissions when users install them, but they do not provide actual functions. , Including reading address book, call permission, SMS permission, location permission, etc.”
Since it is the permission to apply for, then I will not give it soon? App service providers and developers also know that you think so, so there is a second question: you don’t want to give permission, do you, I don’t want to use it for you either. Many well-known software such as Tencent QQ have been notified by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology because of this problem.
Isn’t this the overlord clause? If it’s a daily transaction, we can simply refuse it. However, in the general domestic App service environment, there are always App services that are popular in this “I am your father” style.
What makes people more anxious is the next third question. In addition to requesting on the counter, some App services will also access mobile phone information without you knowing it. Last year, MIUI 12 brought the flares system monitoring function, exposing the behavior of some apps to read information to the public.
However, exposure is one thing, and how to deal with it is another. Although MIUI can illuminate the behavior of these apps, it can also be fooled by returning empty information. However, can Xiaomi remove these apps from the store? I’m afraid not. It may not be possible to switch to any domestic mobile phone brand. And even if you do, App service providers can still find other channels to issue offline installation packages.
After doing the comparison and then looking back, we can come over in vain, how courageous Apple is to launch such a new regulation. Looking at the technology circle, it seems that only Apple dares to do so.
Standing on the opposite side of all Internet companies
“Then can I afford it?” For Internet companies that rely heavily on advertising revenue, Apple’s move is quite a mess.
Take the Internet giants like Google and Facebook for example. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Google’s parent company Alphabet’s advertising business accounted for 81% (including YouTube), and Facebook’s advertising business accounted for 96.8%. You can’t call it an advertising company too much.
Facebook is the biggest opposition among the tech giants. Last year, Facebook said that through a small-scale test on the iOS 14 beta, it found that advertising revenue plummeted by 50%; restricting customized advertising would cause a devastating blow to small businesses.
This attitude explains well why your data is so attractive.
Except for Google and Snapchat’s support for Apple’s new regulations, Internet technology companies are almost wailing. On the contrary, as users, we may all applaud.
Support the privacy reform of iOS 14
Behind the applause, what we can see is Apple’s focus on privacy issues and the courage to control the application ecology. Because of this focus and courage, Apple dared to stand on the opposite side of almost all Internet companies and do something that no one else dared to do.
At this point, Xiao Z remembered what Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software engineering, said in an interview with a reporter from The Wall Street Journal:
“These devices are a very close part of our lives. They contain so much information about what we think, where we have been, and who we are with. Users should and need to control this information.”
Please come for more companies that allow users to control their own information.
Original title: This time, is Apple going to face the world?
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Editor in charge: haq