What do you do in your apps and which websites do you visit on your smartphone? Such information interests the advertising industry. However, the so-called tracking can be restricted – on both Apple and Android devices.
Apple promises better data protection on the one hand, while the advertising industry and publishers’ associations fear a drop in sales on the other. Facebook has launched campaigns against Apple because it sees part of its business model under threat. What is it about? To enable apps to record user activities in other apps and on websites and send them to the operators who can use them for advertising purposes. It has been possible to limit this in the settings of iPhones and Android smartphones for many years – but hardly anyone who does not deal extensively with the data protection options of their devices knew that.
With the update to the iOS 14.5 operating system, Apple is now bringing its users to it, making it easier for them to control their data. If you then open an app for the first time on an iPhone with the new operating system, you may see a notice asking for permission to collect user data and track mobile surfing.
There is an advertising ID on every smartphone. It’s a long string of numbers and letters. Almost everything you do with your smartphone can be collected centrally via this advertising ID and can help advertising networks such as Facebook, Google AdSense or Apple to display advertising that is appropriate for you based on your behavior.
For example, you play a certain app and later open a website with your mobile phone on which Facebook displays ads from its advertising network. If you have installed the Facebook app and it is allowed to track your usage behavior on your device, you will then see an ad for a paid version of your game app, for supplements or for similar games on the website, for example.
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Instructions: Turn off app tracking on Android
- Open the settings of your Android smartphone or tablet.
- Tap Google.
- Scroll down and open Advertising.
- Turn on Opt out of personalized ads. You won’t see fewer ads as a result, but content selection will become more random.
- Above it, tap Reset Advertising ID.
Instructions: Turn off app tracking on iOS
- Open the settings of your Apple device.
- Tap on Privacy.
- Tap Tracking.
- Here you can set whether you generally want to allow your installed apps to record your usage behavior. If you do not want this for any app, you can switch off the option here. If you leave it on, apps that want to track your behavior have to ask for it. The apps and your decision are then listed at this point and you can change your decision later.
Instructions: Turn off personalized Apple advertising
- Open the settings of your Apple device.
- Tap on Privacy.
- Scroll down and open Apple advertising.
- If you turn off Ads Personalization, Apple may not select ads from its own advertising network that may be relevant to your interests on your iPhone or iPad. You won’t see fewer ads as a result, but the content will become more random.
