Apple Eases iOS Privacy Policy For Snap, Meta, Others: FT

Financial Times reports that Apple Inc AAPL 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 and Meta Platforms Inc FB 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.  
• Related Content: How Apple's Privacy Policy Change Affected Advertising Business?
• Price Action: AAPL shares traded higher by 2.21% at $174.92 in the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.