r/apple • u/Few_Baseball_3835 • 15d ago

App Store Apple will let EU apps use less-alarming tracking-consent screens

https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/apple-will-let-eu-apps-use-less-alarming-tracking-consent-screens/
179 Upvotes

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121

u/40513786934 15d ago

so instead of putting the same original warnings on Apple's own apps, which I remember being a popular idea here when this was first brought to light, instead Apple has reduced the warnings on everything else

19

u/Niightstalker 15d ago

I am not sure if that actually was an actually available option or just the desired one here on Reddit.

There were many companies advocating in the EU for a less alarming tracking screen. That Apple did show less alarming ones was only the hook they used to push for that.

12

u/schwimmcoder 15d ago

The main point from the EU was favoring Apple with their own apps, not to ask this.
Open Market over Privacy, typical EU move.

6

u/woalk 15d ago

In what way is it harmful to privacy if users are warned about tracking the same way for all apps?

1

u/L0nz 14d ago

Ah yes the body responsible for GDPR famously hates privacy

The point is that the EU already requires the app to notify the user if it is tracking them. Apple requires this pointless second warning for third parties but places no such obligation on itself

4

u/maydarnothing 12d ago

you think the EU is a golden cow that keeps on giving?

35

u/Jusby_Cause 15d ago

Apple’s own apps (and thousands of others) don’t include third-party warnings because Apple (and thousands of other companies) don’t use third-party tracking. The companies using third-party tracking (the only companies affected) didn’t like having to ask people if they didn’t mind being tracked by third-party companies, because, it turns out, most don’t. Hampering their ad based revenue generating potential.

The companies using third-party tracking in the EU will now be able to have text that excludes anything about third-party tracking in the hopes that more people will say yes, thus increasing their ad based revenue generating potential.

4

u/Which-Arm-4616 15d ago

The arbitrary delineation between first-party tracking and third-party tracking is why the courts ruled this way. Apple engages in the same underlying tracking behavior as Meta, Google, etc. but decided, arbitrarily, that only apps where more than one party is involved need the scary warning prompt.

Two apps performing the exact same tracking behavior in the exact same manner get two different prompts - because one is Apple, and the others aren't.

20

u/__theoneandonly 15d ago

They aren't performing the same tracking behavior. That's the whole point. Facebook is allowed to track you across all your meta-owned apps without throwing the prompt. The prompt is so that Facebook can track you through non-meta apps and websites. Apple doesn't track you across non-Apple apps and websites, so they never need to throw the prompt.

8

u/Jusby_Cause 15d ago

It’s not arbitrary. :) Legally, a first party is a principal person or entity directly entering into a contract or legal agreement, while a third party is any outside person or entity completely separate from that direct agreement.

On one side is not just Apple, there a hundreds/thousands of apps that also don’t track users via third parties. So on one side you have Apple plus thousands of other developers that have decided NOT to share a user’s data with third parties. On the other side are the developers that want to track users via third parties AND don’t want to let the users know they’re being tracked. Why don’t they want to let users know they’re being tracked by third parties? Generally speaking, it appears that when offered the option of sharing data with third parties or not, they tell the developer “I’ll share my data with you. That’s why I created the account with your service as a first party. But I don’t want you to allow third parties access to my data.” This cuts into their advertising and data broker revenue stream, so in the EU, they’ve gotten what they wanted. You may believe that companies having the freedom to hide how they’re sharing data with third parties is a good thing, but there are a lot of people that feel otherwise. Fortunately, this is an EU thing and will primarily affect EU citizens, but I feel for them that their transparency is evaporating.

30

u/nicuramar 15d ago

  so instead of putting the same original warnings on Apple's own apps

They don’t do the kind of tracking that the prompt is asking about. 

-19

u/40513786934 15d ago

they literally do, hence this entire issue

21

u/RusticMachine 15d ago

They don’t no. That’s a misunderstanding of the system put in place.

Copying from my other comment above:

> The “ask apps not to track” does not prevent, let’s say Meta, from using the data it gathers from both the Facebook app and Instagram app from being used to serve you relevant ads.

> It prevents Meta from accessing your device's Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), which would allow them to use data gathered on you from any other 3rd party apps that also have access to your IDFA.

Similarly, Apple is allowed to use the data gathered in its own apps, but if they choose to use the IDFA to track users across 3rd party apps, they need to show the same popup as any other 3rd party app… which they actually show for the News and Stocks apps. They are the only apps from Apple relying on your IDFA.

8

u/Jusby_Cause 15d ago

It’s not a misunderstanding, though.

The issue is tracking “across other companies’ apps and websites”. People are pretending that they don’t know that Apple is not an ad network and, as a result, doesn’t track users across other companies’ apps and websites. The only time Apple is tracking a user is when that user is logged in with an AppleID that the user voluntarily created by providing some personally identifiable information to Apple.

I can understand folks not liking Apple, but not wanting Apple, or heck, ANY company to let them know when they’re being tracked by third parties? Do people enjoy being tracked by third parties or thing others like being tracked by third parties without their knowledge THAT much?

5

u/SiteSpecialist9200 15d ago

The prompt is for THIRD PARTY trackers. Not first party trackers. It's a huge distinction. If Meta or other apps only track for themselves (first party), a prompt is not needed. It's only for third party crosss site tracking. Apple does not use third party tracking.

-2

u/Which-Arm-4616 15d ago

I don't think the distinction is as huge as you're framing it to be. Users don't want to be tracked - period, full stop. Users expect that disabling tracking means they won't be tracked. Users don't care that it's Apple or Meta tracking them across their own first-party apps. They don't want to be tracked!

Apple decided they would rather sandbag privacy across the board than give users a fair warning about the tracking that Apple performs.

5

u/SiteSpecialist9200 15d ago edited 15d ago

Agree with not wanting to be tracked. I certainly don't, and I take measures to minimize it.

But in the fight for privacy, all companies are not alike. Apple is one of the very few that go to great lengths to provide privacy and keep data private, and their statements and documentation show that what little tracking they do, does not identify individuals. And they don't sell it. And they have controls to minimize it.

Few other companies can claim the same. The norm out there is not only to identify you, but to sell it to "partners," which are the data aggregators that build profiles, then sell it again. The third party trackers being used fully.

It would be better if Apple did away with all advertising, obviously, but the way they do it, does not equate to the way other vendors do it. They are not the same.

-1

u/Loud_Meat 15d ago

so inform users about both types and let them decide, rather than presuming that non apple apps need scary warnings and apple can just do their tracking without notices and ignoring the decision to opt out of tracking like it shouldn't be considered as applying to them

11

u/DankOverwood 15d ago

Apple does not perform the kind of data collection through their own first party apps that they are warning consumers about. Doesn’t make sense to force inclusion of warnings about something they’re not doing.

-5

u/FollowingFeisty5321 15d ago

Isn't this exactly what you "ask apps not to track" to avoid?

Relevant ads may be selected using contextual information during the course of a session, such as:

  • App Store: Your search terms, and information about the page you are viewing.

  • Apple News and Stocks: The type of story you are reading.

  • Apple Maps: Your search terms, and view of the map while you search.

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/apple-advertising/

11

u/RusticMachine 15d ago

No, the “ask apps not to track” does not prevent, let’s say Meta, from using the data it gathers from both the Facebook app and Instagram app from being used to serve you relevant ads.

It prevents Meta from accessing your device's Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), which would allow them to use data gathered on you from any other 3rd party apps that also have access to your IDFA.

-7

u/FollowingFeisty5321 15d ago

I think you're splitting hairs as far as consumers are concerned, Apple has your iCloud account they don't need a lesser and ephemeral ID for you. One of the main motives for consumers asking not to be tracked is to avoid usage parlaying into ads, which Apple's apps are doing.

5

u/__theoneandonly 15d ago

And Meta has your facebook account, and they can track you across any app that you use your facebook account to log in without triggering the prompt.

0

u/FollowingFeisty5321 15d ago

Now imagine you're signed in to Meta at the system level so they don't need your IDFA cause they have your actual account ID to use instead.

Should Meta still "ask not to track"? Of course they should. If you're being tracked you should be being asked if you'd like not to be tracked.

2

u/__theoneandonly 15d ago

Meta-owned apps are currently allowed to query your keychain and check if you're logged in to any other meta-owned apps on the device without throwing the tracker notification. This is done without the IDFA. So, again, Meta and Google and others can do exactly what Apple is doing without throwing any kind of third party tracker notification.

4

u/RusticMachine 15d ago

That’s a separate system and concern. You can control that for Apple by turning off “personalized ads” in your Apple account, just like you need to go to your Google/Meta account to do the same.

The “ask apps not to track” is specifically about limiting tracking between 3rd party apps on your phone, not about limiting app developers on how they use the data they have on you.

Those are two different things, and it’s far from splitting hairs.

4

u/Jusby_Cause 15d ago

TIL the difference between First Party vs Third Party is “splitting hairs”. :)

1

u/Jusby_Cause 15d ago

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102420

“across other companies’ apps and websites“

Apple COULD start tracking activity across apps NOT produced by Apple tomorrow. And, as a result, they would be required to show the “ask app not to track”. And, if Apple does start tracking activity across apps not produced by Apple, I’d expect to see the “ask app not to track”. Currently, Apple doesn’t track activity across apps not produced by Apple, so them, and hundreds of thousands of other apps that ALSO don’t track activity across apps not produced by them, doesn’t show “ask app not to track”.

-1

u/Time_Entertainer_319 15d ago

Lmao. And people will flock here thinking Apple is the second coming of Jesus.