Adam Kos With the upcoming launch of app tracking transparency in iOS 14.5, there is still quite a bit of buzz surrounding the whole affair. In a new interview for Toronto Star Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed not only the feature itself, but also the ongoing legal battle with Epic Games. According to him, she wants to turn the App Store into a flea market. As for the motivation for launching app tracking transparency and Apple's general focus on protecting user privacy, Cook stated that it is really important that you have full control over your data. This is also for the reason that there is more information about us in the phone than there is, for example, in the household itself. “Your banking and health records, your conversations with friends and family, business colleagues – all this information is stored on the phone. And so we feel a huge sense of responsibility to help users in terms of privacy and security." he said Cook in the interview.
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The information he shared surfaced last week Wall Street Journal, which reports that many companies want to bypass Apple's new feature and continue collecting user data. This was also discussed in the interview, with Cook commenting on the situation quite matter-of-factly: “The only reason you'd want to bypass the system is if you think you'll get less data about users. The only reason you get less data is because people now make a conscious decision not to give it to you. They haven't been able to do that yet. Now someone is looking over your shoulder, seeing what you're looking for, seeing who you're talking to, seeing what you like and what you don't like, and then building a detailed profile of you. That's fine if you tell yourself it's fine for you. We are not against any form of digital advertising, we just want you to give your consent to it.”
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Cook also mentioned the need for regulation to help protect user privacy, adding that he believes app tracking transparency will take things a step further. "In the regulators' defense, it's very difficult to predict which way things are going to go, and when they do, they're going to do it very quickly," he said. "The company can react much faster in this regard." It is not yet known when exactly iOS 14.5 will be released. Cook however, he said it should be within a few weeks.
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Epic GAMES vs. Apple
Of course, there was also the case with Epic GAMES. Cook literally stated in an interview that the company's desire Epic GAMES make available within App Store third party payment methods would make it a flea market. The vision of "arch enemy number 1" for Apple is that every developer could come up with their own method of distributing their additional content to users within the platform. So you would no longer just provide your payment details Apple, but to virtually every developer. The situation would be similar to a flea market, where you also don't have too much trust in the seller and you don't want to trust him with your money. Distrust in developers would then mean less sales of their products, so according to Cook, no one would actually win. However, Cook is still confident in Apple's victory.
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Cook is an intelligent guy and does a good job of privacy. At Epic & co. what if the customer himself chose to whom he entrusts his payment data? I think it's more about the fact that the money would flow directly into the pockets of the developers. And if Apple were to get something out of it, would the developers be sending them commissions? ☺️ We are already at the flea market. The only option is for the developers to negotiate better terms for themselves. It would certainly be possible with the big players, but that would deprive Apple of profits and when an accountant is in charge...