The Weekly Breach Breakdown: New Apple Privacy Update Lets You Opt-Out of Apps Tracking You

• A new Apple privacy update, iOS 14.5, lets consumers stop Apple apps from tracking them.
• Unless someone gives permission to an app, it cannot use their data for targeted ads, share their location data with advertisers, or share their advertising identity or any other identifiers with third parties.
• If you do not want to be tracked by your Apple device, download Apple’s latest update (14.5), and select Settings > Privacy > Tracking, and toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track. You can also decide on an app-by-app basis by selecting “Ask App Not to Track” or “Allow” once you download a new app.
• To learn about recent data breaches, consumers and businesses should visit the ITRC’s new data breach tracking tool, notified.
• For more information, or if someone believes they are the victim of identity theft, consumers can contact the ITRC toll-free at 888.400.5530 or via live-chat on the company website www.idtheftcenter.org.

He Loves Me Not

Welcome to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) Weekly Breach Breakdown for April 30, 2021. Each week, we look at the most recent and interesting events and trends related to data security and privacy. This week we’re going to focus on the seismic event in the data privacy world.

In Henry IV, Shakespeare’s play about taking action while others fail to act, Lady Percy says, “Some heavy business hath my lord in hand, And I must know it, else he loves me not.”

In this case, she’s referring to plans for a rebellion. However, in the context of this week’s episode, we’re talking about the new Apple privacy update, which gives consumers more control over their data as a substitute for privacy legislation. Later in the article, we will tell people how to take advantage of a new feature from the makers of the iPhone and iPad.

New Apple Privacy Update Feature

In an earlier episode, we talked about Apple’s controversial decision to add a built-in privacy feature that would block the ability of applications to track users. That data is used to serve ads to people either by the app owner, or if it’s sold to a third party that uses the information to target people with ads as they travel around the digital world.

Consumers Can Opt-Out of Being Tracked By their Apple Apps

Apple announced the new App Tracking Transparency feature in June 2020 to give app developers plenty of time to prepare for the change. And a big change it is. Unless someone gives permission to an app – including those made by Apple – it can’t use one’s data for targeted ads, share their location data with advertisers, or share their advertising identity or any other identifiers with third parties.

Many Privacy Experts & Consumer Advocates Favor the Change

Privacy experts and consumer advocates think the new Apple privacy update is a great step forward in giving people more direct control over their data, who has access to it, and how it is used. Advocates have long sought a shift in the U.S. to a more European privacy model where consumers must give their permission before personal information is collected and used.

From the beginning of the digital economy, the U.S. has built business models on a no-option basis. That means people have no choice but to surrender their personal information, which then becomes the property of the business, not them.

Thanks to a strong European privacy law that went into effect in 2018 – and several state laws and regulations in California, New York and Virginia – we are beginning to see the ability of consumers to “opt-out” of certain types of data collection and sales. That is to say consumers can tell a company to stop collecting, selling or sharing their information.

However, that approach is not universal since the U.S. has no national privacy law, and 48 of the 50 states have not passed specific data privacy laws. Enter the Apple privacy update that allows customers to block data collection.

What You Should Do If You Don’t Want to Be Tracked by Your Apple Device

If you don’t want to be tracked by your Apple devices, here’s what do you need to do:

• Download and install the new iOS version 14.5 on your iPhone or iPad.
• Once you do that, you can block access on an a la cart basis. When you download a new app, you will be asked if you want to let the app track your activity. You can select “Ask App Not to Track” or “Allow” if you are okay with that application collecting and using your data.
• You can also opt-out of app tracking across every app you download by going to Settings > Privacy > Tracking, and toggling off Allow Apps to Request to Track. That way, any new app will be automatically informed you have requested not to be tracked. Also, all apps (unless you’ve already permitted them to track you) will be blocked from accessing your device’s information used for advertising.
• For apps that you have already downloaded and agreed to allow tracking, you can still turn those permissions on or off on a per-app basis in your device settings.

The Lasting Effects Are Still Unknown

Predictions on how the Apple privacy update will affect consumer behavior, data sales, and ad revenues range from “meh” to Chicken Little-level “the sky is falling.” We will revisit this topic once we know if we can go about our business or need a hard hat.

Contact the ITRC

If anyone has questions about keeping their personal information private and how to protect it, or on the new Apple privacy update, they can visit www.idtheftcenter.org, where they will find helpful tips on these and many other topics.

If someone thinks they have been the victim of an identity crime or a data breach and needs help figuring out what to do next, they should contact us. People can speak with an expert advisor on the phone, chat live on the web or exchange emails during our normal business hours (6 a.m.-5 p.m. PST). Visit www.idtheftcenter.org to get started.

Be sure to check out the most recent episode of our sister podcast, The Fraudian Slip. We will be back next week with another episode of the Weekly Breach Breakdown.