Apple’s new ad gives users a visual representation showing how ATT is supposed to work
Soon, there is a large crowd following Felix as he walks into a pharmacy. The crowd has grown exponentially in size as the whole gang walks down the street and into Felix’s home where there is no room left to make a move. But there is a solution.
Felix picks up his iPhone and sees the ATT feature for an app called “Pal About.” He opts out of tracking by pressing the “Ask App Not to Track” option and all of those people who were becoming Felix’s unwanted entourage start disappearing. The message posted by Apple says, “Choose who tracks your information. And who doesn’t.”
Last year Apple released its App Privacy Labels
While Felix didn’t want to be tracked, the few that don’t mind seem to prefer the convenience of having ads and discounts pop up on their screen. Does this outweigh the leaking of your personal data? Most would say no, but it is a personal decision that you will have to make.
The new TV spot weighs in at 60 seconds although an edited 30 second version might also be made. The ATT is the feature that riled Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg as the latter feared that small businesses would be hurt by a large number of users opting out of tracking. But Facebook is not neutral here and it has plenty of skin in this game thanks to the approximate $84 billion in ad revenue it garnered last year.
Last year, Apple added App Privacy Labels to new apps and existing apps that have been updated. Found under the Ratings & Review section of an app listing in the App Store, App Privacy shows you what data a certain app may collect that could be linked to your identity, the data collected that cannot be linked to you, and the data collected that could be used to track you across third-party apps and websites. Of course, if you opt-out of third-party tracking, that last bit of information should not matter.
