New iOS feature to protect customers – the EU is now warning

An upcoming iOS update will give users more self-determination when tracking their web activities. What privacy advocates cheer, criticizes, among other things, Facebook sharply. The EU has also issued at least a warning to the iPhone manufacturer.

Data protection option in iOS 14.5: EU commissioner expresses concerns

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, has issued a cautious warning to Apple. The reason for this is an iOS update with which Apple wants to distribute a new data protection option to users: In the future, you will have to give a developer permission so that he can access the user advertising ID – this allows the user’s activity on the web and understand in apps.

Like the news agency Reuters reported, Margrethe Vestager has faced unequal treatment of Apple iOS-Apps warned. The new function in iOS 14.5 initially only affects data protection. But this could also lead to an antitrust issue. Specifically, this means: Apple could make itself vulnerable if the same conditions do not apply to all apps – including those developed by Apple itself.

Facebook accused Apple of anti-competitive behavior in December, and it was no coincidence: the social network is likely to be one of the most affected companies, as many users may withdraw its tracking permission.

GIGA is testing the new iPhone 12:

No complaints so far

Vestager told Reuters it hasn’t received any complaints about Apple’s tracking option in iOS 14.5. The Commissioner welcomes the move in principle: “It is a very good thing to have an easy way to prevent tracking,” she told the news agency.

Apple has not yet responded to Vestager’s statements. However, the iPhone manufacturer had already stated that the new opt-in function would apply equally to all apps – including their own, writes Reuters. But Apple’s own platform for ads does not track users, explains Reuters. To what extent the new feature affects the manufacturer itself is therefore open.