Apple warns Chinese technology companies not to track application transparency rules

Apple defeats Chinese technology companies working on ways to circumvent emerging transparency rules on the app, reports Financial Times.

Starting with iOS 14.5, Apple plans to require app developers to get explicit permission from users before accessing an iPhone’s advertising ID or IDFA, and earlier this week the news suggested that the state-sponsored China Advertising Association is testing a tool to promote Apple’s rules.

Apple on Thursday sent warnings to at least two Chinese app developers using methods to track the use of the app without the user’s permission. “We found that your app collects user and device information to create a unique identifier for the user’s device,” reads Apple’s email, which states that the developer must adapt the app within 14 days to the App Store. rules, or it may risk being removed from the ‌App Store‌.

According to Financial Times, the app developer involved uses a tool called CAID, developed by the aforementioned China Advertising Association. The China Advertising Association said this week that CAID is not “in opposition” to Apple’s privacy policy, but it may not be accurate, given the warnings issued by Apple today.

A veteran in the Chinese marketing industry tells Financial Times that ‘large and small businesses’ in China are all considering CAID, but Apple’s recent actions “will put an end to these tests.” Some of the largest technology companies in China, such as Baidu, ByteDance and Tencent, all test or implement CAID to identify users.

For example, ByteDance has recommended that developers use its SDK to issue CAID1 and CAID2 identifiers. One is based on the IP address of the user and the other is based on the IMEI of the phone, which is a unique identification number. The CAID1 and CAID2 identifiers violate Apple’s rules because they do not ask users’ permission before collecting this data. ByteDance also recommended that developers use ‘fingerprints and likely customization’ to identify users, which is also in violation of the ‘App Store’ application transparency guidelines.

The China Advertising Association said it is developing additional services that will collect and store personal data from users to create a “fingerprint” for each person. Any app that uses the CAID system will collect user data and send it to a central server to create a CAID identifier that will be used for user identification purposes. The CAA claims that users can withdraw CAID, but according to Apple’s definitions, this is not allowed in the first place.

Technical experts believe that Chinese apps plan to customize their apps in a number of ways to get past Apple’s App Store ‘rating team, comparing it to a’ cat-and-mouse ‘game. Apple has repeatedly said that programs that disregard user preferences when it comes to ad tracking will be disapproved, which could lead to problems with Chinese companies and the Chinese government going forward.

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