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| Apple tracks iOS browsing behaviour by default |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-10-12 11:35:07 |
| Surprise, surprise - Apple, by default, tracks web browsing behaviour and location to better serve you ads. You have to specifically opt out of this tracking per individual iOS device that you own. Now we know why Apple has no problem with turning on 'Do Not Track' and not accepting tracking cookies by default: it has no effect on them whatsoever, because iOS 6 has its own independent user tracking mechanisms. Unlike what the Apple pundits claim, it's got nothing to do with respect for user privacy at all. Well paint me red and call me a girl scout: company selling ads tracks user behaviour. Shocker, huh? |
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| Hope they give up ads |
| By Torbjorn Vik Lunde on 2012-10-12 11:42:56 |
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One of the things I really liked with Apple is that they where not an ad company. I pay for something and then they give it to me. Simple. I still really hope they give this up. If it’s about not letting Google take all the mobile ads, then why not strike a deal with someone like Yahoo and let them do the ads. (With tracking turned off by default — or at the very least is something that is asked by the user and super easy to turn off.) Microsoft also does ads (MSN), but are they going to integrate it into their OS? I hope we don’t get into a situation where there are no big players left that aren’t ad companies. |
 - Score: 4 |
| Selective tech amnesia |
| By kholinar on 2012-10-12 11:56:59 |
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Surprise, surprise... The opt out page has been up from the very beginning and was widely publicized in the tech press. Must be a slow week waiting for the new iPad. From 2010, with the introduction of iads: http://allthingsd.com/20100621/a... So how long did it take all the other ad companies to post opt outs? |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE: Selective tech amnesia |
| By Thom_Holwerda on 2012-10-12 12:09:26 |
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Yup, but ask yourself: how many users are aware of this? Heck, how many people here were aware of the fact Apple tracks you in the first place? With all the talk from the Apple pundits about how Apple hates tracking and about how tracking is evil and about how Apple is so into protecting user's privacy, you'd think Apple wouldn't do this. And yet they do. That is news to me, and considering how this story has been around the web these past few days, it's news to a lot of people. It puts to rest all those silly arguments about Apple turning on DNT by default and blocking cookies because they respect privacy - they only do it because it doesn't affect them and because it hurts competitors. If Apple really cared about privacy, they would turn off their own tracking by default, instead of forcing you to opt out every iOS device you own. It delightfully exposes the hypocrisy of people like Gruber and Siegler. Edited 2012-10-12 12:10 UTC |
| - Score: 6 |
| RE[2]: Selective tech amnesia |
| By steventroughtonsmith on 2012-10-12 12:20:58 |
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iOS has an ad system; you see ads in apps. The two options are: • See ads that have absolutely no relevance to you • See ads that you might actually like There is no utopic third option. I'll keep tracking on, thank you very much. (Also note that iAd is only available in a handful of countries: USA, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Canada.) |
| - Score: 0 |
| Comment by edvim |
| By edvim on 2012-10-12 12:22:46 |
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As distasteful as this revelation is, the big problem is awareness by the population at large. IT news sources may or may not propagate this story but the ones who are affected the most by Apple's smoke-and-mirrors practices simply don't get all the details about what's going on. Also, I very much doubt the FTC and the various courts involved in suing Google over Safari browser cookie issues care about what Apple has been doing. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: Selective tech amnesia |
| By Thom_Holwerda on 2012-10-12 12:25:34 |
| I prefer tracking too. I'd rather have relevant ads than irrelevant ads. If I don't want to be tracked, I load up a private tab. |
| - Score: 2 |
| I've come around ..or maybe through |
| By fadingdust on 2012-10-12 12:58:50 |
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So we all hate ads; sure. I get that. And everyone loves a good privacy debate. But what about this bugs us? What part of the fact that "they" are "tracking" "us"? What if it was your own software, would you be ok with it "tracking" you? What if your tracking-history was able to be monitored & edited (more like https://history.google.com)? For all the fuss put up about this, I wonder if a little bit of control was placed back in (editing histories & downloadable data), this could get reasonable. The trouble with editing/downloading however, what about the "tracking me" part of it? Plenty of websites "track" without user-differentiation; if I were able to view their tracking history of my IP or my browser-settings, it would then show me other people's histories on my rotating-IP.. Sadly, the ad-industry is tied to commerce generally. There's little structurally that can be done, short of attempting to reinforce top-down user-respectful methods like donation/investment. But the history of business is the history of one man getting around another, finding an open loophole in a plan and exploiting it. And ultimately, putting ads in our faces exist because business owners (ad-firm clients) think they should. Otherwise, if you don't want them tracking, and don't donate, don't use their websites/products. Flash CM10 already, be part of an underground; run your own web-filter-proxy.. something even I do. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: Selective tech amnesia |
| By Headrush on 2012-10-12 14:10:45 |
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It's also worth noting how many smart phones users couldn't care less about tracking for ad purposes. The problem is users, even when informed don't know, don't care, or don't understand some of the implications by allowing companies and governments to use these tracking/snooping tools. |
| - Score: 5 |
| RE: Selective tech amnesia |
| By Thomas2005 on 2012-10-12 14:33:57 |
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> Surprise, surprise... The opt out page has been up from the very beginning and was widely publicized in the tech press. Must be a slow week waiting for the new iPad. I have a great question. Why should we even have to opt out of being tracked instead of having to make a conscious effort to opt in to be tracked? |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: I've come around ..or maybe through |
| By flypig on 2012-10-12 14:46:59 |
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> Otherwise, if you don't want them tracking, and don't donate, don't use their websites/products. Flash CM10 already, be part of an underground; run your own web-filter-proxy.. something even I do. I agree that if people find this unsavoury (and in my view they should) then they should do something proactive about it. Unfortunately one of the reasons that this bugs me so much is that it's a trend that leads to inevitability. Tracking becomes ubiquitous across all devices. Companies apply their best efforts to prevent you installing anything they don't like on your hardware. Governments get unchecked access to this data. The best way to avoid the abuses of power that will result are to prevent the data being collected in the first place, in my opinion. But it's impossible to tackle this as an individual. |
| - Score: 4 |
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