In December 2020, Apple introduced an iPhone feature called App Tracking Transparency. It had to be a way to protect users from developers who collect an incredible amount of data from them. However, practice shows otherwise.
Two iOS developers jailbroke an iPhone to scan all incoming and outgoing network data. And guess what? There are quite a few apps that bypass the protective feature and still track users.
iPhone apps ignore privacy feature
What is striking about the research is that it is not the apps of third parties, but those of Apple itself. They circumvent the functionality, collect data from the iPhone user and send detailed information back to the US company.
According to researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry, the following applications are involved:
- App Store
- iTunes Store
- Apple Music
- Apple TV
- Books
- Shares
The applications in question use different device identifiers, collect data about the device and monitor user behavior. Although the iPhone models in question had a jailbroken version of iOS 14.6, the two developers also came to the same conclusion with a normal iPhone with iOS 16.
It was not possible to see the content of the requests, but the frequency with which they appeared was just as high.
App Store follows every step
It is not the first time such information has come to light. At the beginning of this week, the story came out that iPhone users are closely followed within the Apple iPhone Apps Store. The download store is of course also mentioned in the article above.
Wesley tells you more in the article below:
The news, if it turns out to be true, will not go down well with third-party developers. For example, several app developers have already indicated that they do not agree with the iPhone’s functionality. Meta, then known as Facebook, previously announced it would lose billions due to App Tracking Transparency.
The fact that Apple itself continues to follow its users is anything but chic in that regard.
