Okay, so the
first eight months of 2020 went for approximately 12 years. It’s been a long slog. But spring has finally
sprung, which means the temperature’s back up and we have a new bunch of Apple
goodies to play with!
Like
clockwork, every September Apple blesses us with a new iPhone range and
operating system update to bite into. And with around a billion active iPhone users around the
world, it’s not just tech savants who need to be aware of what’s being injected
into their iPhone’s firmware. In fact, with over 90% of Australians owning
smartphones and over 50% of them owning iPhones, these are updates which affect over 10 million
Aussies literally overnight.
For personal
users, this latest update – iOS 14 – welcomes some fun new features like a
redesigned home screen experience with widgets, and picture-in-picture support
so you can watch videos while doing
other things. But for business owners – especially those who’ve seen the majority of their business revenue
come from mobile devices in recent years – iOS 14 could have serious
implications on their systems, processes and marketing decisions.
Specifically,
iOS 14 sees perhaps Apple’s most significant updates to data privacy and
protection to date.
Here are some
of the biggest changes – including what they could mean for your online
marketing campaigns:
It will be harder for apps to target you with ads
Soon, apps will be unable to track users and use this data to target and deliver advertising accordingly on other platforms, unless the user gives prior approval when prompted to ‘Allow Tracking’. And even then, each app will need individual permission. Previously, that permission was granted by default when installing the app, and users had to opt out.
The only exclusions are when
being used for fraud detection, fraud prevention or security purposes.
Facebook has
flagged that this change could potentially cut its Audience Network advertising revenue by more than half. This
includes their stable third party apps including WhatsApp, Tinder, and a host
of gaming, quizzing and dating apps. These data vulnerabilities were flagged as early as 2018 – and
considering publishers and developers earned over $2 billion (AUD) through the
network that year, it’s fair to assume this update could impact advertising
reach significantly for many digital marketers moving forward.
At UEC, we are
always selective of the third-party apps and sites we advertise on in order to
drive strategic results while protecting our clients from avoidable harmful
data and reputational risks.
New Privacy Report in Safari
iOS 14 will also see the introduction of a new privacy report in the iPhone’s Safari web browser, which will inform users how many trackers have been blocked. To view the report you’ll just need to tap the ‘AA’ button in the URL bar, and then select ‘Privacy Report’.
Obviously,
most who track data don’t do so with any sort of nefarious intentions, and some
of these more ‘benign’ trackers may be blocked as collateral damage. For
instance, some track data for insights and analytics (think VWO and Google Analytics)
and others do so in order to try and serve more relevant ads based on a profile
of the user. This may affect web and advertiser analytics, and publishers will
need to ensure their reporting takes this into account. However, this sort of
transparency will likely be appreciated by many users who have concerns over
data privacy – and that’s the point.
Speaking of
reports, there will also be a new app privacy report available in the app
store. Referred to by Apple as a sort of ‘nutrition label’ for apps, it will
let users know what information the app will be collecting and for what
purpose.
Visual notification if an app is accessing your camera or microphone
The update will see a tiny dot appear in the top corner of the screen when an app is using, or has recently used, your camera (green) or microphone (orange). Swiping down from the top of the screen will confirm which app this was. While this is a minor change with little to no foreseeable impact on media publishers – and a large percentage of apps use camera and/or microphone access, including Shazam, photo-editing tools and all social media platforms – it’s just another element of transparency that we’ll come to appreciate, thanks Apple!
Similarly,
there’s no longer a need to allow apps to access all of your personal media in
Photo Library, as iOS 14 introduces options to block access, allow blanket
access, or select only specific access to certain media.
Changes to location data privacy:
Location is obviously key to some functions and apps on the iPhone. From weather forecasts to calculating nearest stores or Uber pickup locations, different apps require different levels of location specificity. The changes in iOS 14 will see ‘approximate’ location sharing being introduced for apps which do not need pinpoint accuracy. Of course user permission will still be required for this.
This change
should have very minimal impact on media publishing but may be something worth
considering for omni-channel businesses who rely on connecting users to
physical stores or pick-up/drop-off points.
Why these changes?
These changes
come on the back of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR), introduced in May 2018, which has wide-ranging impacts for any
businesses that have an establishment in the EU, offer goods and services in
the EU, or monitor the behaviour of individuals in the EU.
Essentially,
the GDPR mandates the
lawful, fair and transparent processing of data, the limitation of purpose,
data and storage, and increased rights for (and consent of) the data subject.
In an increasingly
digitised and globalised business world, data protection has been viewed with
increased priority in recent years – reflected in some massive recent fines for
companies like credit agency Equifax (up to $960
million AUD in 2017) and British Airways ($315 million AUD in 2018) for failing
to adequately protect consumer data. Just last year, Apple was amongst a number
of companies who faced legal action (and fines running into the billions each)
for breaches of the GDPR, flagged by European privacy enforcement non-profit
organisation ‘noyb’ (short for ‘none of your business’). And while these
figures may seem like chump-change for some mega corporations, there is also
potentially irreparable damage to brand trust and reputation to consider. As
such, it’s little wonder why Apple has since increased its efforts to ensure
airtight compliance with these new regulations.
At the end of
the day, the impact iOS 14 privacy updates will have will be largely dependent
on user preferences and behaviour. Studies have shown users very rarely
actually read terms and conditions, and grant companies access to data without
a second thought. Remember the 2016 study where all
543 potential users of a (made-up) new social media platform, NameDrop, hastily agreed to terms which
included handing over their first-born to the company..?
It’s a
reminder that when it comes to our data privacy, it’s our responsibility and
Apple has made that a LOT easier to manage.
