When Apple Inc. rolled out an update to the operating system that powers iPhones in late April, the updated version, dubbed iOS 14.5, included multiple new features. But what online retailers specifically care about is the new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) functionality.
Apple’s new privacy policy requires iOS apps to get a consumer’s permission before tracking their data across apps or websites owned by other companies for advertising or sharing user information with data brokers. In company statements, Apple says it implemented the iOS changes because its customers wanted more control over their data.
In a July 27 earnings call, CEO Tim Cook called privacy “a fundamental human right” and added that ATT has been a hit with consumers.
“With ATT we’ve been getting quite a bit of customer positive reaction to being able to make the decision on a transparent basis about whether to be tracked or not. And it seems to be going very well from a user point of view,” Cook said.
For online the premium cookware brand Made In, the new policy changes the way it analyzes the data that’s left and how it measures success, says Josh Kim, head of acquisition at Made In.
“As we lose more and more signals, we need to understand not only how the channels work, but also what metrics we can and should rely on, which are vanity metrics and which are actually correlated to actions we want our traffic to take,” Kim says.
He says the iOS changes—the ones already in place and the ones yet to come—changed Made In’s approach to messaging. He says the brand’s messaging now relies heavily on communicating how its products add value to its customers, which include consumers and restaurants, instead of relying on targeting.
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