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

appleinsider.com

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

#41

Post by SlowRobotAhead »

Despegar wrote: post #33
SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And somehow Apple approved this usage of location data. On one hand I agree with you, that's crazy that your SSH program put that limit on there for clearly tracking purposes. But I guess I sort of disagree this is Apple's problem to solve. It's yours. Apple made the changes to inform and educate you the customer that an app that is abusing your trust. The solution is not to force Apple to police developers but for…

>The solution is not to force Apple to police developers but for you to stop using Terminus. The actual scalable solution is for Congress or states to pass GDPR-style privacy legislation (or CCPA if your politicians are captured by tech industry interests).

Maybe you're right and the solution is just add more laws.

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

#42

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

dpkonofa wrote: post #6

My favorite thing about these features is the number of apps that it’s reminded me to uninstall completely from my devices. The number of apps that I initially installed months ago that didn’t have any of this that suddenly developed tracking notifications is staggering. I never would have known either since the updates happen silently in the background. Great features.

This.

Yeah, I have a number of apps I installed for one-time operations (a number of obscure dev apps come to mind), and I find out that they are still hanging around, like my drunken Uncle Bob, hovering around the keg.

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

#43

Post by ASalazarMX »

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…

Would the situation be different if Apple's biggest rival wasn't basically an advertising and data mining company?

I wouldn't put it below Apple to profit from advertising control if Google didn't have an iron grip on it.

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

#44

Post by merpnderp »

jccooper wrote: post #28
mikeryan wrote: post #21

Over the years I've considered switching to Android a few times but Apple's really locking in as my preferred device from their privacy work. Not sure this moves the needle with consumers but it does for me.

The article is from Apple Insider, so I guess it's no surprise they don't mention it, but Android 10 has the same functionality, including reminders and per-app 3-way location tracking settings (always on, on with app open, off).

Granted it's been quite some time, but one of the reasons I switched to iOS from Android was Facebook kept "accidentally" exploiting bugs in Android and Google never did anything about it. At the time Facebook wasn't even one of the apps you could delete from your phone. Hopefully Android is better now.

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

#45

Post by kochthesecond »

freehunter wrote: post #24

On the other hand Apple has forced apps to use location data for purposes it should not be used for. Termius, for example, is my favorite iOS SSH app. But according to them, they can’t keep an SSH session running in the background unless they’re constantly tracking your location data. And somehow Apple approved this usage of location data. I don’t want to give Termius my location. I don’t want them tracking me everyw…

We also had to do this to get enough background time. I can honestly say we don't track you. customers also get mad when the app intermittent stops doing its job.

I just hope the app review team doesn't throw us out again.

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

#46

Post by Klonoar »

SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #41
Despegar wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The solution is not to force Apple to police developers but for you to stop using Terminus. The actual scalable solution is for Congress or states to pass GDPR-style privacy legislation (or CCPA if your politicians are captured by tech industry interests).

Maybe you're right and the solution is just add more laws.

No tech can fix the lack of laws regarding rights and privacy of citizens. At best, it just slows down the encroaching.

It's always laws.

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

#47

Post by paulmd »

freehunter wrote: post #24

On the other hand Apple has forced apps to use location data for purposes it should not be used for. Termius, for example, is my favorite iOS SSH app. But according to them, they can’t keep an SSH session running in the background unless they’re constantly tracking your location data. And somehow Apple approved this usage of location data. I don’t want to give Termius my location. I don’t want them tracking me everyw…

the real fix here is to move off ssh onto a mosh server, as it's specifically designed to fix this use-case without requiring a persistent connection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosh_(software)

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

#48

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

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…

I'm pretty sure that the reason for this is dependencies.

People don't just write apps anymore. They write CocoaPods frameworks.

I was just looking at something that someone wrote that does basically the same thing as one of my open-source utilities.

The one I wrote is a 300-line file. It's so small that it isn't even worth writing a pod for it.

The more popular one has over a dozen source files, and also brings in two dependencies.

One of the reasons, I'm sure, is that they are an "all things to all men" approach. They do a lot.

Welcome to the Roaring Twenties...

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

#49

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

paulmd wrote: post #47
freehunter wrote: post #24

On the other hand Apple has forced apps to use location data for purposes it should not be used for. Termius, for example, is my favorite iOS SSH app. But according to them, they can’t keep an SSH session running in the background unless they’re constantly tracking your location data. And somehow Apple approved this usage of location data. I don’t want to give Termius my location. I don’t want them tracking me everyw…

the real fix here is to move off ssh onto a mosh server, as it's specifically designed to fix this use-case without requiring a persistent connection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosh_(software)

Hey, that's cool.

I was not aware of Mosh.

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

#50

Post by reaperducer »

derefr wrote: post #35
goalieca wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can choose the weather location manually. I have a list of cities and default to the one I live in. There’s absolutely no reason for the weather app to know my location down to the square metre.

When you choose a weather location manually, you actually get a less fine-grained report than the one you get from a GPS-resolved location. Basically, you get weather for "the closest weather station to the geographic centre of the named city" rather than "the closest weather station to you." This can be a big deal if your city has a large altitude range, such that going a few miles east means the difference between…

Why not use a ZIP/postal code?
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