Apple is expected to update its smartphones in the coming weeks to protect user privacy, but the new rules are facing challenges in China as Chinese tech companies such as ByteDance and Tencent are testing CAID, an Internet ad marking tool launched by the China Advertising Association, to get around Apple’s new privacy rules.
The Financial Times reported on March 15 that Apple will introduce new privacy rules in the coming weeks and that apps that want to collect tracking data will have to ask users for permission under the new privacy rules. Current apps are able to use Apple’s advertising identifier (IDFA) system to know when users have clicked on ads and which apps they have downloaded.
British media are reporting that some of China’s biggest tech companies, such as ByteDance and Tencent, are testing a tool to bypass Apple’s new privacy rules and continue to track iPhone users without their consent in order to send them targeted mobile ads.
The tool, the China Association of Advertising on the Internet (CAID) program launched by the Communist Party’s officially backed China Advertising Association (CAA), offers a new way to track and identify iPhone users and has been widely tested among tech companies and advertisers in China.
According to an 11-page, byte-hopping company guide for App developers obtained by the British media, it mentions CAID and says that if a user’s IDFA (advertising identification code) is not available, it can be replaced with CAID.
Sources close to Tencent and ByteDance confirmed that the two companies are testing CAID.
British media reports point out that Apple is currently facing the biggest challenge in terms of privacy protection from CAID.
Apple declined to comment on CAID, but said it would not make any exceptions to privacy protections, “App Store terms and guidelines apply to all APP developers worldwide, including Apple; we strongly believe in seeking user permission before tracking users. App’s found to be ignoring user choice will be denied shelf access.”
CAID Solutions does not oppose Apple’s privacy policy and has not yet formally implemented it, according to the CCA, which is also in active communication with Apple (regarding tracking users).
However, Zach Edwards, founder of tech consulting firm Victory Medium, noted that Apple cannot block all apps in the Chinese market, and that if Apple blocks apps that disregard users’ rights, it will trigger a series of actions that could also result in Apple being driven out of China. U.S. antitrust scholar Dina Srinivasan also said that Apple’s privacy policy alone will not solve the obvious privacy problems because there are so many interests involved in advertising that people will always race to introduce ways to track consumers.
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