Some of China’s largest technology companies, including ByteDance and Tencent, are testing a tool to circumvent Apple’s new privacy rules and continue to track iPhone users without their consent to serve targeted mobile ads.
Apple is expected to launch in the coming weeks the changes it announced last June for iPhones that it says will give users more privacy. Until now, apps could rely on Apple’s IDFA system to see who clicks on the ads and which apps are downloaded.
In the future, they will have to ask for permission to collect tracking data, a move that is expected to be a multi-billion dollar bomb for the online advertising industry and has been countered by Facebook, since most users must refuse tracking.
In response, the state-backed China Advertising Association, which has 2,000 members, has launched a new way to track and identify iPhone users called CAID, which is being extensively tested by technology companies and advertisers in the country.
ByteDance, the owner of the social video app TikTok, referred to CAID in an 11-page guide for app developers obtained by the Financial Times, suggesting that advertisers “can use CAID as a replacement if the user’s IDFA is not available”.
People close to Tencent and ByteDance confirmed that the companies were testing the system, but the two declined to comment.
Several efforts are underway to circumvent Apple’s rules, but CAID is the biggest challenge for them, and the iPhone maker declined to comment directly on this. But in a move that sets the stage for a major confrontation, Apple has denied that it would grant any exceptions.
“The App Store terms and guidelines apply equally to all developers around the world, including Apple,” said the company. “We firmly believe that users must have their permission before being tracked. Applications that disregard the user’s choice will be rejected. “
A person familiar with the situation said that Apple would be able to detect which applications use the new tool and block them on its App Store in China, if it wanted to.
But Zach Edwards, founder of Victory Medium, a technology consultancy, said: “They cannot ban all applications in China. If they did, they would effectively trigger a series of actions that would cause Apple to be expelled from China.
Three people with knowledge of briefings between Apple and developers also said that the Cupertino, Calif.-Based company would be cautious about taking vigorous action, despite a clear violation of the declared rules, if CAID is supported by the tech giants of China, as well as its government agencies.
An excerpt from Apple’s new rules on mobile tracking. Apple via Financial Times
Rich Bishop, chief executive of AppInChina, a leading international software publisher in China, suggested that Apple could “make an exception for China” because technology companies and the government are “very closely aligned”.
Meanwhile, Yang Congan, chief executive of Digital Union, a Beijing-based data privacy company, suggested that CAID was designed to circumvent Apple’s rules because its tracking methods may not “uniquely” identify the user. “This is the space that the industry has left to explore,” said Yang, who suggested that this gray area was intentional.
CAA said the CAID solution “does not oppose Apple’s privacy policy” and that the association “is currently actively communicating with Apple, and [CAID] solution has not yet been formally implemented. “
CAID is in a free demo phase for selected companies in the past few months. Two people informed about the problem say that Apple is aware of the tool and seems to have turned a blind eye to its use.
The system is expected to be used by local application developers in China, but at least one French game group has been encouraged to apply to use it, and several foreign advertising companies have already signed up on behalf of their Chinese divisions, said two familiar people. with the subject. . CAID is scheduled to be released publicly later this week, according to a person informed about the plan.
Dina Srinivasan, a United States antitrust scholar, said the issue highlighted how Apple’s policies alone could not resolve glaring privacy issues.
“The big picture is that there is simply a lot of money at stake,” she said. “There will always be an arms race to track consumers. Only legislation can stop this. “
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