Apple is gearing up its major new privacy feature for iOS users and iPadOS 14 users. With the new feature, companies will have to request permission before tracking users across other apps and websites.
Apple's iOS feature
While Apple has not provided details on when the tracking feature will launch, it appears that the testing of the app has started and the groundwork has been rolled out.
The privacy feature of Apple is two-fold. It will first allow users to access privacy controls in the Settings app under the "Privacy" section. Users will then be able to see which apps have required permission to track them and they have the option to revoke or to grant permission when necessary.
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After which, users will see a pop-up message when they open an application for the first time after the tracking feature has rolled out.
Users will see the notification for new apps and they will also be able to see the ones that they already have on their respective devices. The pop-up is where companies such as Facebook can tell the users why they should allow tracking and it will be up to the user to decide.
Facebook has expressed its criticism of the new feature and stated that it will affect small businesses and it can hurt their ability to reach out to new customers, according to 9to5Mac.
Apple has responded to this criticism and stated that the feature will not require Facebook to change the way that it tracks users, the only thing it will do is to ask permission from the user before doing so.
According to MacRumors, some iOS 14 users are now seeing the prompt of the tracking feature on their iPhone, but only for certain applications.
One user, according to the site, received a pop-up when opening the NBA app and stated that the app was requesting permission to track the activity across other companies, apps and websites.
Privacy feature of Apple
Originally, Apple wanted to launch the new privacy feature back in September 2020 as part of iOS14. However, the rollout was delayed and it gave developers more time to prepare. The tech company has doubled down on the feature repeatedly but has now promised to launch it in 2021, according to Gadgets Now.
Last week, Apple has released the first developer and the public betas of iOS 14.4. This is following the stable release of iOS 14.3 to all users. Based on the timeline of the company, users can expect iOS 14.4 to be released to all users around January 2021.
However, there are some iOS users that reported seeing the pop up on iOS 14.3 and iOS 14.2. This could mean that it is a server-side change that Apple is now in the process of rolling out, or that there are certain developers who have started releasing the feature ahead of the schedule to test it out.
Privacy is a growing concern, and Apple users are applauding the company for taking extra measures to secure the privacy of its customers. This feature will now give the users the chance to choose which companies can track them and the final say is in their hands.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sieeka Khan
