The new privacy feature, dubbed “App Tracking Transparency,” came out Monday as part of an update to the OS powering the iPhone and iPad. The anti-tracking shield included in iOS 14.5 arrives after a seven-month delay.
Once the software update is installed, even existing apps already on the device will be required to ask and receive consent to track online activities. That’s a shift Facebook fiercely resisted.
Until now, Facebook and other apps have been able to automatically conduct their surveillance on iPhones unless users took the time and trouble to go into their settings to prevent it.