Apple has integrated "Application Tracking Management" (ATT from App Tracking Transparency) for the first time in iOS 14.5.
The new feature is supposed to give users options to make tracking by third-party apps transparent. Sounds like a very important step for her protection of users' privacy.
But here a question arises: How efficient is the ATT function. Two developers took a look after 5 months of use.
For the record the App Tracking Manager (ATT) feature was first released by Apple in April 2021 with iOS 14.5. ATT mode gives users options for more transparency in tracking by third-party apps. Users can choose whether to allow tracking from each application Separately.
The ATT feature has been praised by many as a step in protecting users' privacy.
Πέντε μήνες μετά την κυκλοφορία του όμως, οι πρώην προγραμματιστές της Apple Johnny Lin και Sean Halloran δοκίμασαν δέκα από τις κορυφαίες εφαρμογές του App Store. Ήθελαν να δουν αν η λειτουργία ATT σταματούσε την παρακολούθηση. Για να το κάνουν αυτό, χρησιμοποίησαν την εφαρμογή ανοιχτού κώδικα Lockdown Privacy.
The application promises to block trackers, ads and malware - from all applications on a device. So for ATT to work as promised by Apple, the Lockdown Privacy app should not rule anything out.
However, the test results were disappointing.
Using the Lockdown Privacy app and manual tests, the security researchers found that the App Tracking Transparency feature had no effect on the total number of active third-party trackers and had little effect on the total number of third-party tracking attempts.
In addition, the two researchers security επιβεβαίωσαν ότι οι trackers κατάφεραν να αποκτήσουν λεπτομερή προσωπικά data or device data in almost all cases. ATT was functionally useless and could not stop third-party tracking, even when users explicitly chose “Ask App Not To Track”.
Details can be read in the post Study: Effectiveness of Apple's App Tracking Transparency published on September 22, 2021.
