Snapchat has tested multiple workarounds to the upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature that will be included with iOS 14.5, currently in beta.
It says the tests had a 95% success rate in being able to identify individuals, but won’t continue with them when the new rules come into effect. Apple says the framework will launch in ‘early Spring’.
The Financial Times claims Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, explored ways to bypass the rules with “probabilistic matching”.
Snap wanted to gather data from companies that analyze whether people have responded to ad campaigns, including aggregated IP addresses, the labels that identify devices connected to the internet.
It hoped it could take that data and cross-reference it against the information it holds on its own users to identify and track them, in a technique known as “probabilistic matching,” according to several people familiar with its plans.
Snap says it will follow the guidelines because it has “always believed that advertising should respect consumers’ privacy”.
Apple is likely going to be following large app developers, Snap and Facebook included, to ensure its new privacy rules aren’t broken.
