#ad-tracking

#ad-tracking

When Apple dropped App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompts in iOS 14.5 back in 2021, it was a watershed moment for user privacy within third-party applications. Nothing like it had existed prior. The initiative gave iPhone users control over whether their in-app data could be aggregated and shared with third parties for advertising or other various purposes. Still, today, I often find comments online from people who don't really know what it does and find the wording very taboo.

The ads on my phone were getting too personal. I could look up headphones once and then see them everywhere, from YouTube to random free games. Even after I stopped shopping, the same product continued to follow me. It became a steady reminder that my activity might be linked across apps, and I could not ignore it. I opened my privacy settings to see what I could change.