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

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

#361

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…

An interesting one, on a tangent, this morning on my work windows10 machine I had a Chrome notification telling me about the latest plurasight deal. First time this has happened for me, it is an interesting use of the notification system!

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

#362
post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some reason I still strongly prefer the look and feel of Android over iOS, but at this point my next phone will be an iPhone. Why? Because Google recently stepped up its notification spam in their official apps. They're using a mechanism that's supposed to exist to notify me of things _I_ want/need to know about urgently instead to advertise products and services to me that I have no interest in. It's tedious to…

I use Lineage OS + microg with no Google apps on a compatible phone and I experience zero Google. Else, I seem to be able to enjoy Android to its fullest, using the Aurora app store. Lineage OS might be a viable alternative for people who prefer Android but disdain Google.

I'm doing something similar on my Pixel 2.

In the end I have very few apps that send personal data to ad companies (I've blocked as many ad and tracker networks as I could), and I've prevented most apps from showing me notifications unless I really want them.

You'd be surprised how much battery you save with all those things disabled.

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

#363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It sure is, but I think it's pretty clear that "using YT Vanced/other apps to watch all of my YT content" (or ad blockers for that matter) is effectively stealing by using Google's bandwidth, server time, data redundancy, etc. without giving them anything. Maybe you're fine with that, maybe even Google is fine with that (since, at least with only ad blockers, they still get the data to build their human-level intelli…

Legally speaking it's not stealing. But this is an ethics debate, which is probably why you inserted the word "effectively" before "stealing". That's perfectly acceptable rhetoric :)

However, I would rather characterise it as misleading Google into sending data they didn't really mean to send given the exact ways in which the data is used (i.e. watched without ads and stored locally).

So this is "effectively" giving Google some of its own medicine. Misleading people into sending them data they might not have sent given full knowledge of the facts is at the core of personalised advertising.

So is this the ad industry stealing people's data, bandwidth, CPU time and battery capacity? No, not legally speaking. Is it ethically questionable? Definitely.

So is it OK to turn the tables on them? Stealing from thiefs if you like the stealing metaphor. I think it depends, but I see it mostly as a pragmatic issue, not so much an ethical one.

I don't personally use ad blockers, because paying for everything directly is an even greater threat to privacy than advertising. It doesn't even stop tracking - on the contrary. I don't currently see a viable alternative to some form of advertising (not necessarily personalised).

But because I'm accepting ads, I'm getting to feel the full brunt of the industry's deceptive efforts to prevent me from exercising my legal rights. They are using every imaginable technical and legal trick in the book to avoid compliance with lawmakers' stated intentions.

Given this context and considering Google's oligopoly sized margins, I feel that it is disproportionate to use "stealing" as a metaphor for the comparably tiny ethics issues related to ad blocking or youtube downloaders.

We need to nudge or coerce advertising back to using context and content for ad targeting instead of running deceptive spy organisations. That would also result in more money ending up in the pockets of content producers instead of middlemen.

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

#364

> A drop in advertiser spending is likely to occur from small or medium-sized advertisers, Kasamias believes, as they are clients "where cost efficiency is paramount and there is a physical footprint, as targeting the right user at the right time will become more difficult." Frankly, what a load of horse shit. The reason for the drop in spend isn't the lack of targeting potential. Ad companies talk about this, becaus…

Thanks for the blog post, for the thoughts yes, but also for teaching me the word “spruik”! PS I hope you’ve found or are finding a new and rewarding area to work in.

Same here. I'm in a similar situation to yours when you published that post. Curious to see what did you do next.

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

#365

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…

> Make iOS an absolute delight to use in contrast.

I cannot select the middle of a word.

The audio jack is held in by friction.

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

#366
post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The joys of the Android vendor ecosystem. Even when going with official Google phones: my Nexus 5 is way out of date OS-wise.

Your Nexus 5 came out 7 years ago, it's unreasonable to expect that the latest Android would even run properly on it when the rest of the world has moved on.

my iphone 6s receives iOS updates to this day. it eats through the battery like there's no tomorrow but it works well otherwise.

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

#367

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…

I have never owned an ios device in my life and strongly avoid them but this makes drift slightly over considering one. If apple allowed easily sideloading apps I would consider moving over.

Sideloading on iOS is as easy as installing the free Cydia Compactor on your PC or laptop and dropping an app on it.

The downside is that self-signed certificates only last seven days unless you have a paid developer account, but if you're comfortable with jailbreaking (which is even easier than sideloading since you can do it just by tapping a link in Safari on iOS) then you can install Reprovision which automatically renews certificates for you every few days.

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

#368
post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't noticed more notification spam in Google apps, but what I have noticed is the way better notification management in recent years. I can long press on notifications and directly block it forever or finely tune the App sending it what it is allowed to send etc. Last time I used an iPhone I still had to double swipe to even dismiss a notification, which is super annoying because most are probably spam. If Noti…

On ios every app has to ask permission before the first notification, so you will not get the spammy ones in the first place. I agree with your point that android is making management much easier though.

On iOS 12 and above apps can post provisional notifications without consent: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/usernotifications/...

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

#369

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"By default, users have a unique tracking/advertising ID attached to their phone." Google has the same thing, and with apple if you care you can opt out. "When Limit Ad Tracking is enabled on iOS 10 or later, the Advertising Identifier is replaced with a non-unique value of all zeros to prevent the serving of targeted ads. It is automatically reset to a new random identifier if you disable Limit Ad Tracking." So this…

> you can't get unremovable malaware installed on an iphone you buy from apple. This is simply not true. iOS also allows "supervisor" apps (see MDM) that are extremely difficult to remove later, perhaps even more difficult than android. I know because I used to work at company that did a kids protection app.

Apple cracked down on those recently, and has added support for MDM with a lighter touch in recent versions of iOS.

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

#370

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…

I just have AdBlock Plus installed and enabled for Safari on my iPhone. Haven't seen any ads on YouTube for quite some time now if I am viewing it on Safari. Only downside is that I have to click the cancel button everytime YouTube shows a pop up to open the link in the app.
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