A hot murphy: Developers fearing an adpocalypse brought on past Apple'due south new privacy rules and features are already looking for ways to continue tracking iPhone users that opt-out of data collection. Some have said they are even willing to run a risk being kicked off the platform by bending or outright breaking Apple's rules.

In June of last year, Apple announced that new privacy features were coming in iOS fourteen. The new protocols would give users the selection to allow or deny data collection on a per-app basis. Apple delayed implementing the new characteristic to "early 2022" later backlash from advertisers, Facebook, and Google.

Now with the gatekeeping feature fix to go live in the coming weeks, app makers are reportedly looking for means to become around it. Ars Technica spoke with developers who said they would use "invasive tracking techniques," such as "device fingerprinting," to keep tracking users who have denied their app permission.

"100 percent, everyone will try doing fingerprints, whether Apple enforces their rules or not," said ane mobile game designer speaking anonymously.

If Apple does enforce the rules, such deportment could get the programmer kicked off the platform. Fifty-fifty though iOS 14 will block apps from using an iPhone'south IDFA, there is nothing in the software, preventing programmers from figuring out other ways to track user data. Fifty-fifty the Electronic Frontier Foundation does non believe iOS 14's new features will eliminate tracking.

"There is still going to be tracking," said EFF'southward Managing director of Consumer Privacy Engineering Andrés Arrieta. "We will still see apps trying to do nefarious things. No affair what you do, you will take those bad actors."

Still, we are non just talking nearly fly-by-night "bad actors." Some "big" game developers are very concerned about the bear on of giving users the choice to turn off ad tracking.

"This is a huge, huge alter. It's the biggest risk that we have [equally a visitor]... it could really affect us negatively," a leading mobile games developer told Ars Technica.

Facebook warned developers on its Audience Network platform that the new feature could cut advertisement revenues by 50 percent, calling that a "conservative estimate." Others have predicted advertisers could lose as much every bit two-thirds. However, nobody knows what kind of impact the privacy characteristic will take on advertisers. This dubiousness is leading many developers to consider breaking the rules or looking for loopholes. Even Google has shown some concern over Apple'due south new privacy crackdown.

As nosotros reported earlier this week, the search giant has not updated whatsoever of its iOS apps since before Apple's App Store privacy "nutrition" labels took effect on December 8. Only new apps or updates to existing ones are required to make full out the data collection labels, then Google seems to be postponing sharing its drove practices for as long as possible.

Perhaps even Google'southward engineers are exploring workarounds for tracking users without admission to a device's IDFA, but that is simply speculatory. Google has not agreed to annotate on the matter.