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Thanks for giving us the information on "what's actually going on". But that makes it seem worse, even when you apparently can't see it from working in the fiel

Thanks for giving us the information on "what's actually going on". But that makes it seem worse, even when you apparently can't see it from working in the field. Apple continues to give apps access to the UDID; the recent leaks were apparently not as stark a reminder as some people thought. The "Limit Ad Tracking" option seems wholly useless; another "X-Do-Not-Track". In this case, the user even expresses the wish to not be tracked, and Apple just continues to provide the data while telling the apps you checked a meaningless box. Apple is in no position to control what app developers do with the data after the fact; the only possible way here is to not disclose that data at all. (Also, Google does just fine without a globally unique "advertising number". It can do so because people get actual value for the advertisements, and the advertisements are targeted. Apple is just providing this trove of data on the cheap to every hinterland app developer. Thats a huge mistake.)

ralfd 14y ago
If Apple wouldn't provide an ID then developers would code their own device identifiers. This here is crossplatform for iOS and Android: https://github.com/ylechelle/OpenUDID/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/ylechelle/OpenUDID/blob/master/README.md Or just read the MAC address: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/677530/how-can-i-programmatically-get-the-mac-address-of-an-iphone http://stackoverflow.com/questions/677530/how-can-i-programm... > Google does just fine without a globally unique "advertising number". It can do so because people get actual value for the advertisements, and the advertisements are targeted. I don't understand, can you elaborate? How can advertisements be targeted without tracking?
- jonknee 14y ago
  > I don't understand, can you elaborate? How can advertisements be targeted without tracking? Keywords is how Google does it. Try using Google in Incognito mode (or whatever your browser of choice calls it) and note the relevant ads. Obviously this does not work as well in all apps, but to say you can't do targeted advertising without tracking is not true.
- salem 14y ago
  At least on Android, this becomes a little more transparent, and why so many Android apps request permission to access to network and/or phone state, to get access to unique Ids.
ralfd 14y ago
Google recommends developers use the "Android_ID". I bet Admob, Googles app ad network also requests this: http://android-developers.blogspot.de/2011/03/identifying-app-installations.html http://android-developers.blogspot.de/2011/03/identifying-ap...

ralfd 14y ago

If Apple wouldn't provide an ID then developers would code their own device identifiers. This here is crossplatform for iOS and Android: https://github.com/ylechelle/OpenUDID/blob/master/README.md https://github.com/ylechelle/OpenUDID/blob/master/README.md Or just read the MAC address: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/677530/how-can-i-programmatically-get-the-mac-address-of-an-iphone http://stackoverflow.com/questions/677530/how-can-i-programm... > Google does just fine without a globally unique "advertising number". It can do so because people get actual value for the advertisements, and the advertisements are targeted. I don't understand, can you elaborate? How can advertisements be targeted without tracking?

jonknee 14y ago
> I don't understand, can you elaborate? How can advertisements be targeted without tracking? Keywords is how Google does it. Try using Google in Incognito mode (or whatever your browser of choice calls it) and note the relevant ads. Obviously this does not work as well in all apps, but to say you can't do targeted advertising without tracking is not true.
salem 14y ago
At least on Android, this becomes a little more transparent, and why so many Android apps request permission to access to network and/or phone state, to get access to unique Ids.

ralfd 14y ago

Google recommends developers use the "Android_ID". I bet Admob, Googles app ad network also requests this: http://android-developers.blogspot.de/2011/03/identifying-app-installations.html http://android-developers.blogspot.de/2011/03/identifying-ap...