Apple is expected to update its smartphones in the coming weeks, and apps that want to collect tracking data in the future will have to ask users for permission. Currently apps are able to use Apple’s advertising identifier (IDFA) system to know when users click on ads and which apps they have downloaded.
The change could be a costly bombshell for the online advertising industry and has been met with resistance from Facebook, as most users are expected to refuse to be tracked.
In response, the 2,000-member Communist Advertising Association (CAA), backed by Communist authorities, has introduced a new method called the Internet Advertising Identifier (CAID) to track and identify iPhone users. CAID is being tested extensively by technology companies and advertisers in mainland China.
ByteDance, owner of social video App TikTok (Jitterbug International), mentioned CAID in an 11-page guide to app developers – obtained by the Financial Times – and advised advertisers “If you can’t use the user’s IDFA, you can use CAID as an alternative.”
People close to Tencent and ByteDance confirmed that the companies are testing the system, but both companies declined to comment.
Several actions are being taken today by various parties to try to get around Apple’s privacy rules, but CAID is by far the biggest challenge to Apple’s new rules. The iPhone maker declined to comment directly on the matter. But Apple denied there would be any exceptions, setting the stage for a major confrontation.
“The App Store’s terms and guidelines treat all developers globally equally, including Apple.” Apple said, “We insist that users’ consent should be sought before tracking them. We will discard apps that ignore users’ choices.”
A person familiar with the matter said Apple would be able to detect which apps are using the new tool and take them off the App Store in China if it wanted to.
But Zach Edwards, founder of tech consulting firm Victory Medium, said, “They can’t block every app in China. If they did, it would trigger a series of actions that would result in Apple being driven out of China.”
Three people with knowledge of the briefing between Apple and developers also said the Cupertino, California-based company would be cautious and not take strong action lightly if CAID had the backing of mainland China’s tech giants and government agencies, despite the tool’s apparent violation of its rules.
Excerpt from Apple’s new rules on mobile tracking
Rich Bishop, CEO of AppinChina, a major international app publisher in mainland China, said Apple could “make an exception for the Chinese Communist Party” because local tech companies are “very much in line with the government’s attitude. very consistent” with the government.
Meanwhile, Yang Congan, CEO of Beijing-based data privacy firm Digital Union, said CAID is designed to get around Apple’s rules because its tracking methods may not “uniquely” identify users. “This is a space to be explored in the industry,” Yang said, adding that he believes this gray area is intentional.
The CAID solution “is not against Apple’s privacy policy,” said the China Advertising Association, which is “actively communicating with Apple, and the CAID solution has not yet been officially implemented.
In recent months, CAID has been available for free trial at a select group of companies. Apple is aware of the tool, but so far seems to be turning a blind eye to it, two people familiar with the matter said.
The system was originally intended for local app developers in mainland China, but at least one French gaming group has been encouraged to apply to use it, and several foreign advertising companies have applied on behalf of its Chinese Communist Party sector, two people familiar with the matter said. The tool was publicly released as early as this week, according to a person familiar with the matter.
U.S. antitrust scholar Dina Srinivasan said the issue underscores the inability of Apple’s policies alone to address compelling privacy concerns.
The point is that there’s too much money at stake,” she said. The arms race to track consumers will never end. Only legislation can stop it.”
Recent Comments