Apple Softens Tracking-Consent Screens for Apps in the EU

Apple has agreed to change the requirements for the screens that apps on its platforms use to ask users for consent to track their activity across other apps and websites. The decision is the outcome of a years-long antitrust investigation by Germany's federal competition regulator and a number of other European authorities.

Regulators argued that the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) system put third-party apps at a disadvantage compared with Apple itself: the company's own services are allowed to use data from within its ecosystem without displaying a separate consent screen.

What exactly is changing

The new arrangements do away with neither the prompt itself nor the moment it appears. But developers who distribute apps in the EU will be able to use an alternative consent screen — with a different design, wording, and the option to link to “additional information” about why the app needs the permission.

In all, Apple is making more than half a dozen changes intended to make ATT screens less unsettling. The prompt is now shown full-screen rather than as a pop-up; the word “track” has been removed from the text; the choice buttons change from “Allow” and “Ask App Not to Track” to the more neutral “Allow” and “Decline”; the colors and layout change as well. Developers will also be able to use a clickable link to explain in more detail how and why they use the data.

According to the company, because of the specifics of local law, apps in Germany, France, Italy, Poland, and Romania will only have access to the new, alternative version of the system prompt.

Why it matters for the advertising business

Users typically respond to these screens by declining, which hurts businesses that live off advertising, such as Meta, while at the same time working in Apple's favor. Apps ask for the permission precisely because it lets them show personalized ads, which bring in more revenue.

Apple, for its part, has insisted that these screens protect consumer privacy — even though they do not stop the company's own apps from showing personalized ads based on data collected within its ecosystem.

Finally, the company said it will now allow developers in the EU to show the ATT prompt to users again a year after their previous choice.

Source: TechCrunch