Meta criticises Apple’s App Tracking Transparency

Apple introduced its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature to improve consumer privacy where users can choose to disable third-party apps from tracking. The feature was added in the iOS 14.5 software update, which creates a pop up that asks users if the app can track their activity.

According to a report by 9to5Mac, the company told Recode, “A user’s data belongs to them and they should get to decide whether to share their data and with whom. With iOS and iPad OS, we have given users the choice whether or not they want to allow apps to track them across apps and websites owned by other companies”.

However, Meta Platforms believes that “Despite Apple’s harmful policy, we’ve continued to adapt our systems to help businesses succeed while honoring privacy, and shared extensive steps they can take to maximize performance and measurement on our platforms”.

The ATT feature hindered the mobile ad industry since companies had less user data to work with. Meta still targets users as part of large anonymous groups. The feature has made ads less relevant to individual preferences.