Every move you make
If a business is built on misleading users, on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, then it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform.“ —Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
By Capital Thinking · Issue #834 · View online
Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, says “if you own an iOS device, next week is likely to bring you the most significant improvement in digital privacy in the history of the internet.”
APPLE’S TRACK ATTACK
Bob Hoffman | Type A Group:
Kint is talking about Apple’s new privacy feature called App Tracking Transparency (ATT) which is schedule to launch this week with Apple’s new iOS 14.5 update.
Apple will require app developers to get consent before they can track you.
According to published reports, you will be able to opt-out of all tracking on your Apple mobile device with just one click.
The NY Times reported on the event at which Apple announced the launch of this new software this week.
The Times said…
“Apple unveiled a series of new products on Tuesday that showed how it continues to center its marketing pitch on consumer privacy…”
Along with Google’s recent announcement that they would end all third-party tracking on their Chrome browser, this development signals a new era in which major tech platforms are starting to acknowledge the damage that tracking has done to personal privacy and to confidence in democratic institutions.
Any marketer, publisher, or platform with half a brain needs to do a major re-think of dangerous, abusive tracking policies. You listening, Facebook?
Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind
Just how abusive is tracking?
Let’s take a look at an innocent publication like Smithsonian Magazine. You probably can’t imagine that visiting the website of an organization like this can do you any harm, right? Think again.
Dr. Augustine Fou did some forensics on the website. Here’s what he found. When you go to the Smithsonian website you think you are interacting with one party.
You do not know that 2,200 other entities are loading crap into your browser to track you and harvest your data. Then these ad tech creeps can profit from pimping your info all over the web.
Have a look…
Charming, huh?
Just for fun, I entered my own website into Dr. Fou’s Page X-Ray Tool to see how much crap the website platform I use stuffs in there.
Here’s what I found…
