Privacy organizations praise Apple’s leadership:
Gus Hosein, Privacy International: “PI investigations at data brokers and advertising technology companies reveal a complex and fast-growing industry that is opaque to the average user. Where there is a lack of transparency, exploitation thrives. Invisible and free data collection leaves users unable to exercise their rights and protect their privacy. Apple nutrition labels require the industry to be clear and direct with consumers, and tools like App Tracking Transparency will help people have control over the invisible leak of their data. With these laudable innovations, the industry will finally feel pressure to change. Consumer awareness and technical solutions are important parts of the solution, but to avoid a game of cat and mouse among industry players, we need substantive and enforceable regulation to stop exploiting our data. ”
Jeff Chester, Center for Digital Democracy: “Apple’s new data privacy tools ensure that people have more control over their personal information. Data brokers and online advertisers will now have to act more responsibly when dealing with consumers using third-party applications on Apple devices. ”
Michelle Richardson, Center for Democracy and Technology: “Consumers are often unfamiliar participants in a data tracking and segmentation network. These changes will help to rebalance the ecosystem so that data collection and sharing is more transparent and tracking is no longer the standard. The systemic change in this range is a huge leap for consumers ”.
Tristan Harris, Center for Humane Technology: “Apple’s announcement today further removes the ecosystem from the malicious effects of the secret profile and micro-segmentation that enable many of the problems described in The Social Dilemma.”
Raising awareness of industry practices, such as data tracking, is just the first step towards a better privacy experience. Users also need the features and controls to decide how their data is used and by whom. Apple led the industry by creating privacy protections in each of its products and services.
For years, Apple has introduced dozens of technologies that protect user privacy and help keep users’ data safe. For example, Safari was the first browser to block third-party cookies by default, already in 2005. On iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, Safari added Intelligent Tracking Prevention to further limit tracking while allowing sites to function normally . In 2018, Apple introduced protections to prevent companies from registering their fingerprints on the Mac – a practice in which third parties try to identify users’ devices based on data such as sources and plug-ins.