Commentary: Apple policy has advertisers scrambling
By James Temple Houston Chronicle May 10, 2012
Mobile advertisers are working around a new Apple policy that makes it harder to track user activity on iPhones and iPads, in what some see as clear consumer privacy violations.
Last summer, Apple began phasing out developer access to unique device identifiers (UDID), numbers on devices that many companies used like tracking cookies in Internet browsers, enabling them to monitor activity from app to app and target ads accordingly.
The tech giant hasn't addressed its reason for the change and didn't respond to an inquiry. Some have wondered whether Apple was trying to create an uneven playing field by exclusively using these identifiers for its own ad network, iAd.
But most industry observers believe the company took the step in response to growing concerns over privacy. The change followed reports in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere highlighting how much information companies had access to via Apple devices, including consumers' location history, personal details and use of other apps.
In one hint Apple's change was driven by privacy concerns, its guidelines now state developers should create a unique ID specific to their own app, eliminating access to information beyond the boundaries of the company's product. Recent Apple app rejections have cited privacy violations.
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