Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

appleinsider.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 461 posts

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#211

Post by Nextgrid »

madeofpalk wrote: post #133
Polylactic_acid wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without sideloading I can't use a 3rd party youtube app that has no ads, no tracking and allows downloads. I also can't use my pebble watch because the official app is unsupported and only community supported software exists. I also am restricted from some content that android users of the same app can view because apple prohibits adult content inside of apps. I see a phone as a tool to do what the user needs. Not th…

I know this is a privileged position, but I just solved that by paying your YouTube premium which gets rid of ads and allows me to download.

The problem with YouTube Premium is that it doesn't solve the tracking aspect of it. If anything, it gives Google validated identity & billing details about you which makes the situation worse from a privacy point of view.

I'm a heavy YouTube user and would be happy to pay for it. Yet, I can't do so without agreeing to their insane "privacy" policy and providing personal details to a company that has proven its bad faith countless times with all the dark patterns & invasive tracking.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#212

Post by VintageCool »

KMnO4 wrote: post #162
madeofpalk wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> By default, users have a unique tracking/advertising ID attached to their phone. My understanding is that this tracking ID was a replacement for apps being able to obtain the devices serial number. The tracking ID is unique per developer (edit: not true, it is unique per device, so multiple devs can build a profile on you) and can be reset by the user at any time.

I don’t believe the IDFA is unique per developer (assuming I’m understanding you correctly). I use analytics in my company’s app and I get my team to send me their IDFA by downloading a free app from the App Store. The IDFA in my analytics is the same IDFA in the 3rd party app.

There is an IDFA (ID for Advertisers) and an IDFV (ID for Vendors).

The IDFV is unique per developer; the IDFA is unique per device.

The device user can reset their IDFA at any time, and if the user disables ad tracking then the device returns 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#213

Post by mikestew »

Terretta wrote: post #37
mikestew wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just downloaded it, too. It does ferret out those ads in the NYT app that I can’t seem to get Pi-Hole to filter out. Seems it will save me setting up a VPN to the home network to use Pi-Hole when on the road, too. So far, it’s two thumbs up. I’ll give it a few days, but I’ll throw some money their way in-app purchase even I never use their VPN (though I’ll certainly give it a whirl).

If you like Pi-hole, consider nextdns.io and their iOS app, or their plenty other configs/apps as well. Using the web control panel, pick from high level categories to block, or drill down and select from among the most common of dozens and dozens of block lists. Make one or more configs, so different family members or devices can be blocked differently. With Lightweight apps for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS and Chro…

Thanks for the heads-up, definitely interesting enough to take a look.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#214

Post by nneonneo »

nneonneo wrote: post #112
Polylactic_acid wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without sideloading I can't use a 3rd party youtube app that has no ads, no tracking and allows downloads. I also can't use my pebble watch because the official app is unsupported and only community supported software exists. I also am restricted from some content that android users of the same app can view because apple prohibits adult content inside of apps. I see a phone as a tool to do what the user needs. Not th…

I have a little "share" button on my iPhone that invokes Youtube-DL via Pythonista, so I can open any Youtube video and get a locally saved copy pretty much instantly. I can use VLC to stream YouTube videos without ads. There's a bunch of apps that let you load pretty much arbitrary code onto the platform - Pythonista and Scriptable are two of the top ones (Python and JS interpreters respectively), and with those you…

Oh, and apparently there's a new contender too - Play.js includes a fully functional Node.js implementation with support for npm (via package.json dependencies). So now you can basically use any NPM package on iOS. I can already tell that I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of it :)

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#215

Post by dangus »

otachack wrote: post #137
Waterluvian wrote: post #77

I'm probably saying the complete obvious, but Apple can completely crush Google if they execute this angle properly. Google has no choice but to support ads. They're an ad company. Apple has to keep hammering how bad the ad and privacy experiences are with Android. Make iOS an absolute delight to use in contrast. I'd pay a premium for that. Android has done a great job making me want an iOS device again, these last t…

Sure, but Google/Android has added fine grain GPS permissions in Android 10+ so we have the option to say "just track when using app" instead of "no" or "all the time". The problem, now, is rolling it out due to fragmentation.

All Android phones before P are vulnerable to a flaw that allows background camera use:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/7/17091104/android-p-prevent...

That might actually be the majority of active Android devices if you look at the marketshare statistics.

I think it's actually somewhat embarrassing that the tech industry hasn't been able to provide a low cost, reasonably secure smartphone platform that can be used for more than a year or two. The only people who can remain secure are the ones who can afford either new Android phones or slightly less new iPhones.

Security is like a luxury item, and the worst part is that most people don't even realize it.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#216

Post by Nextgrid »

Polylactic_acid wrote: post #104
jzvxkxbxjx wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“ If apple allowed easily sideloading apps I would consider moving over.” This was the reason I was an android guy until my wife told me to just get a phone that works. And you know what? Not letting you side load is a feature. When you see it like that, you care a lot less about your phone, and just appreciate that it works and that you can trust it as your more intimate possessions .

Without sideloading I can't use a 3rd party youtube app that has no ads, no tracking and allows downloads. I also can't use my pebble watch because the official app is unsupported and only community supported software exists. I also am restricted from some content that android users of the same app can view because apple prohibits adult content inside of apps. I see a phone as a tool to do what the user needs. Not th…

My workaround for YouTube (on both iOS and macOS) is to use an RSS reader like News Explorer (it natively supports subscribing to YouTube URLs and syncs via iCloud) and then just watching via the browser with a content blocker (AdGuard) that seems to block the ads & cancer on YouTube pages.

This also allows you to subscribe to channels without having a Google account and agreeing to their "privacy" policy.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#217

Post by tbodt »

heavyset_go wrote: post #191
jzvxkxbxjx wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“ If apple allowed easily sideloading apps I would consider moving over.” This was the reason I was an android guy until my wife told me to just get a phone that works. And you know what? Not letting you side load is a feature. When you see it like that, you care a lot less about your phone, and just appreciate that it works and that you can trust it as your more intimate possessions .

> And you know what? Not letting you side load is a feature. Apps released under the GPL are banned from the App Store.

Not true, VLC is GPL and on the app store

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#218

Post by [deleted] »

xenospn wrote: post #158
macintux wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just looked. They do, but they share it anonymously unless you consent otherwise. https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/ See "Location-Based Services" near the bottom.

I'm assuming this is for Maps/address resolution data and such, and not real time location information that can be used to identify a single user.

[deleted]

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#219

Post by Nextgrid »

hamandcheese wrote: post #170
madeofpalk wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know this is a privileged position, but I just solved that by paying your YouTube premium which gets rid of ads and allows me to download.

In other words, you solved it by not stealing.

This is a slippery slope. In this case, is turning down the volume during ads also stealing? Is looking away stealing? Etc.

Downloading files for later has been a basic feature of computers since decades. If Google is now giving us defective-by-design tools it shouldn't be considered stealing to fix them or replace them with something non-defective.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#220

Post by countbackula »

mikestew wrote: post #2

And it’s not just location data. I am amazed at how many apps want Bluetooth, too. Umm, there isn’t a single listed feature that indicates a need for BT, why are you asking? Oh, so you can use that as a tracking vector, too. Well, not only do you not get BT, you don’t get to live on my phone anymore, either. As for the advertisers, boo-hoo. You raised a finger (or two, depending on locale) to “do not track”, you thin…

There's an excellent white paper and mitigation proposal from the 2017 PrivacyCon on cross-app tracking via Bluetooth LE, here's the link for any interested; https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_comments/2...
Post reply on HN