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It strikes me that the mechanics of podcasts are so consistent and simple that it would be straightforward for podcast apps to implement truly privacy-preservin
by semiquaver 3y ago
It strikes me that the mechanics of podcasts are so consistent and simple that it would be straightforward for podcast apps to implement truly privacy-preserving analytics. As an example, Apple could make available to podcast publishers numbers like “how many people actually listened to this episode”, instead of the current status quo of “how many people downloaded it” using server logs, which is obviously inaccurate as this episode makes clear. There’s no need for Apple to disclose or even collect anything identifying to make these numbers available. It’s just a big distributed SUM() operation.
Of course, once that was available, advertisers would next want attribution for who had listened to which ad segments, etc. and it would all be downhill from there.
- hacketthfk 3y agoThat's called telemetry. We hate that here on HN and always disable it. Do you want Microsoft to snitch on your listening habits? I bet not.
- prepend 3y agoDoes Apple even track app analytics? They definitely don’t share it with anyone. I’d stop using the podcast app if they gave my behavior data out to anyone.
- pbh101 3y agoA limited amount: https://podcasters.apple.com/5314-introducing-subscription-analytics-delegated-delivery-linkfire https://podcasters.apple.com/5314-introducing-subscription-a...
- MarkSweep 3y agoThey already do: https://podcasters.apple.com/support/5392-listener-analytics https://podcasters.apple.com/support/5392-listener-analytics That’s what makes this article slightly puzzling. The change described in the OP article would not affect Apple’s analytics ( I think). It would only effect download counts for their party analytics.
- semiquaver 3y agoWow, thanks for the info! It’s crazy that the article didn’t mention this and that no one interviewed seems to have been aware of it. Feels like a huge oversight, since with this info the change should have been basically unimpactful.