China Advertising Association Develops Way to Bypass Apple Tracking Restrictions

The China Advertising Association has developed a new tool that could help developers bypass Apple's upcoming restrictions on user tracking, reports the Financial Times. The tool is being tested by major companies including ByteDance and Tencent.

In the coming weeks, Apple will force iOS developers to get explicit permission from users to enable tracking. While this will improve privacy, it could deal a major blow to developers who rely on tracking to deliver targeted ads. The move has been strongly criticized by Facebook and has purportedly prompted the company to begin preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple.

In response to the upcoming rules, the state backed China Advertising Association, has launched a new way to track users called CAID. ByteDance, owner of TikTok, referred to CAID in an 11-page guide to app developers seen by the Financial Times. Apparently advertisers will be able to "use the CAID as a substitute if the user's IDFA is unavailable."


Several efforts are under way to get around Apple’s rules, but CAID is the biggest challenge to them yet, and the iPhone maker declined to comment directly on it. But in a move that sets the stage for a major confrontation, Apple denied that it would grant any exceptions.

“The App Store terms and guidelines apply equally to all developers around the world, including Apple,” the company said. “We believe strongly that users should be asked for their permission before being tracked. Apps that are found to disregard the user’s choice will be rejected.”

The CAA claims its CAID solution “does not stand in opposition to Apple’s privacy policy” and that the association “is currently actively communicating with Apple, and the [CAID] solution has not yet been formally implemented”.

Currently, CAID is in a free demo phase for select companies; however, it could be publicly released as early as this week. More details in the full report linked below.


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