Apple Tells Developers to Get Ready for AppTrackingTransparency

Apple is telling developers to get ready for AppTrackingTransparency ahead of the release of iOS 14.5.

Here’s the full notice provided to developers earlier today…

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Make sure your apps are ready for iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5. With the upcoming public release, all apps must use the AppTrackingTransparency framework to request the user’s permission to track them or to access their device’s advertising identifier. Unless you receive permission from the user to enable tracking, the device’s advertising identifier value will be all zeros and you may not track them.

When submitting your app for review, any other form of tracking — for example, by name or email address — must be declared in the product page’s App Store Privacy Information section and be performed only if permission is granted through AppTrackingTransparency. You’ll also need to include a purpose string in the system prompt to explain why you’d like to track the user, per App Store Review Guideline 5.1.2(i). These requirements apply to all apps starting with the public release of iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5.

As a reminder, collecting device and usage data with the intent of deriving a unique representation of a user, or fingerprinting, continues to be a violation of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement.
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Apple has already seeded developers with six betas of iOS 14.5, so we’re expecting the public release to arrive soon. Please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for updates.