The End of Facebook Surveillance? 96% of iPhone Users Disabled App Tracking on iOS 14.5

By Andrei Ene

Posted on May 7, 2021

No wonder Facebook is desperate in the fight against Apple’s privacy measures – This latest report shows that 96% of US-based iPhone users on iOS 14.5 disabled app tracking.

Flurry, an app analytics company, revealed a few interesting facts in their latest released report about the new iOS update, 14.5. According to Flurry, 96% of iPhone users in the USA have opted out of app tracking on the latest Apple software, with only 4% of iPhone users choosing to enable app tracking since Apple released their new transparency policy. When international users are taken into account, the statistic indicates an 11% of users worldwide have allowed apps to track them.

The report also suggests that there was an inherited flaw with the way that apps relied on some Apple tools to gain access to user data. Up until the latest iOS 14.5, apps have been using a system of identification named identifier for Advertiser or, as is more known in developer circles, (IDFA), to track users for advertising purposes. With the launch of iOS 14.5, iOS apps now have to ask users for permission to collect tracking personal data. 

The company also pointed out that the opt-in rates are expected to be low, with this particular update expected to change the way personalized ads work in the public space. Even create challenges for personalized advertising and attribution, impacting the $189 billion mobile advertising industry worldwide. 

To note, Flurry Analytics is owned by Verizon Media, but this does not subtract or add from the value of the report. According to the study, the methodology used was extremely simple. They used over 1 million mobile applications, providing aggregated insights across 2 billion mobile devices per month. For this report, Flurry will be updating every weekday by 10 am Pacific Standard Time the daily opt-in rate as well as the share of users that apps cannot ask to track (‘restricted’ status), both in the U.S. and worldwide, to keep you informed on the most industry-impacting iOS release to date.

The End of Facebook Surveillance? 96% of iPhone Users Disabled App Tracking on iOS 14.5