Apple Eases iOS Privacy Policy For Snap, Meta, Others

$Apple (AAPL.US)$ has permitted app developers to collect data from its 1 billion iPhone users for targeted advertising.

In May, Apple communicated its privacy changes allowing iPhone users to opt-out of tracking by apps by simply checking the appropriate option.
However, seven months later, companies including $Snap Inc (SNAP.US)$ nd $Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ continued to share user-level signals from iPhones so long the data was anonymized and aggregated than tied to specific user profiles.
Cory Munchbach, COO at customer data platform BlueConic, said Apple had to stand back from a strict reading of its rules because the disruption to the mobile ads ecosystem would be too significant.
"Apple can't put themselves in a situation where they are basically gutting their top-performing apps from a user-consumption perspective," she said. "That would ultimately hurt iOS."
However, allowing opaque third parties to utilize user-level data, Apple is in effect trusting the very same groups that CEO Tim Cook lambasted as "hucksters just looking to make a quick buck."
Companies aggregating user-level data said apps continue to "leak" information like the user's IP addresses and location because some require such information to function.