Tools that will give users more influence over who sees what appears in the new iOS 14.4 beta. In the future, Apple will let you choose whether apps should be allowed to track you on websites and in other apps.
Data is used to target advertising
Apps often use such data to create targeted advertising based on places you visit and things you search for. The new features will prompt iPhone users to make an active choice about whether to share information with the apps being installed.
Potentially, the feature will give users far more power over their own data. And as Tim Cook writes on Twitter, Facebook can continue to track its users across apps and websites, they just have to ask for permission first.
Facebook is not happy
Several companies, including Facebook, warn against giving users a choice not to give away location data to companies. In December, Facebook announced through its own advertising campaigns on the platform, that iOS 14's new features for privacy can have a major impact on the finances of companies that rely on sales from marketing on Facebook.
According to Facebook, it will have a lot to say especially for small and medium-sized companies.
According to Facebook, small businesses will on average get 60 percent fewer sales for the money they spend on Facebook advertising. "During the pandemic," writes Facebook, the new privacy features in iOS 14 will make everyday life extra difficult for small businesses.
Get support from Mozilla
Other companies such as Mozilla and the Electronic Frontier Foundation welcome Apple's new features. According to Mozilla, Apple's new features are a big win for consumers who often do not know they are being tracked across apps.
"Soon, users will not have to look through all the phone's features to ensure their own privacy," says Mozilla.
The features should have been launched with iOS 14, but to give companies time to adjust, the company has chosen to postpone the update until early 2021. But the warning already appears for users who have installed the beta to iOS 14.4.