WWDC 2020: New Privacy Features in iOS 14

Amid all of the announcements today we’re getting some new privacy features in iOS 14. Here are two main ones that developers will have to implement.

Ask to Track

Later this year, developers will be required to list their app’s privacy practices. On the app product page the developer needs to list some of the data used to track users, like location, contact information,, and other identifiers.

There will be a new prompt that users will see where the app will ask if it can track their data. Developers will make use of the AppTrackingTransparency framework to track users or use their advertising identifier. Here are examples that Apple gives:

• Displaying targeted advertisements in your app based on user data collected from apps and websites owned by other companies.
• Sharing device location data or email lists with a data broker.
• Sharing a list of emails, advertising IDs, or other IDs with a third-party advertising network that uses that information to retarget those users in other developers’ apps or to find similar users.
• Placing a third-party SDK in your app that combines user data from your app with user data from other developers’ apps to target advertising or measure advertising efficiency, even if you don’t use the SDK for these purposes.

However, developers can track users using the above framework if it’s used for the following purposes:

• When user or device data from your app is linked to third-party data solely on the user’s device and is not sent off the device in a way that can identify the user or device.
• When the data broker with whom you share data uses the data solely for fraud detection, fraud prevention, or security purposes, and solely on your behalf. For example, using a data broker solely to prevent credit card fraud.

Hopefully we won’t see a bunch of developers collect data while falsely claiming it’s for security (looking at you, Facebook).