Apple Rolls Out Major New Privacy Protections For iPhones And iPads

By:  NPR

April 26, 2021

 

Starting Monday, iPhone and iPad users will have a simple but powerful new way to control how their data is used.

 

With Apple’s latest software update, iOS 14.5, iPhone and iPad users will now encounter pop-ups in the apps they use, asking whether the user wants to allow the app “to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites.” The user can then select whether or not to allow the app to track them and share their data.

 

That little pop-up could create big trouble for companies that make their money through targeted advertising – including Facebook.

 

Apple released a video explaining how the new features work, and how users’ data is collected and sold: “Some apps have trackers embedded in them that have more data than they need – sharing it with third parties like advertisers and data brokers. They collect thousands of pieces of information about you to create a digital profile that they sell to others.”

 

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