iOS 14: Your Privacy, Center-Stage

Published on October 14, 2020

Privacy and Ecosystem

Security and privacy take center stage with Apple’s new iOS 14. While the tech giant has already championed privacy on their smartphones as a unique selling point for years, the changes that arrive in this operating system make for more specific and up-front privacy options for users. 

Since Apple’s business model revolves primarily around selling hardware, Apple doesn’t have to rely on advertisers like its closest rival, Google. Apple was already leading the charge in privacy, partly because of its advanced vertical integration. Apple owns the entire ecosystem of software, hardware and services, and it makes the majority of its money from selling proprietary hardware. This allows them the ability to use privacy as a unique selling point, which they did at this year’s WWDC. Declaring that “privacy is a fundamental human right,” Apple explained how iOS 14’s features help you more tightly control which apps can access your data and when.

Increased Privacy Protections

Apple has introduced a number of features that improve the transparency and privacy when using your Apple device. Of particular note, there is now a small notification light that turns on whenever your microphone or video camera is active. An app cannot record you in any way without your knowledge.

Coming soon, all apps on your iPhone have to ask you before tracking you across apps and websites owned by other companies, and they will have to declare the data they collect. The tech giant has delayed this feature until 2021, when customers will be able to choose between the options of “Allow Tracking” or “Ask App Not To Track.” Developers will not be able to present their app on the App Store without accepting these terms. 

As ESET cybersecurity specialist Jake Moore puts it: “Transparent tracking may sound like an oxymoron, but Apple seems to be quite clear about what it’s doing and has realized the increased potential in monetizing hardware instead of your data…this, in turn, flips the industry on its head to a new privacy conscious way of thinking.” As Apple begins this shift in the user experience, other companies are likely to begin following suit. But how does this affect us in the world of social media and self-marketing? 

Go Organic!

As this shift in the world of advertising adds more limits to advertising companies’ practices for selling and buying data, marketing yourself or your business through channels you control will become all the more relevant. While advertisers and mobile measurement partners are well aware of the potential effects of iOS 14 —and are adjusting their practices to adapt to this new reality—the industry is beginning to shift increasingly toward targeting their advertising through high-quality, niche-specific creative content. 

Quality content, posted consistently within your brand, is the foundation of social media success. In a world with fewer options to pay to get in front of an audience, this strategy will become even more necessary to utilize the platform’s momentum.

While Facebook will have to adjust to the coming changes as a company, the platforms themselves aren’t going anywhere—not even in 2021. If you currently invest in paid digital advertising or PPC, consider diversifying your methods of outreach and investing more time and energy into your organic social media channels: aspects of the platforms guaranteed to persist. 

With new social media features and platforms continually becoming available, the time to establish a voice and social media presence is, well, yesterday. 

After all, once the dust settles in this Wild West, you’ll want to be sure your brand is left standing.

Ryan Walker is a Grit Daily contributor whose resume spans a decade of digital marketing and media, including leading the west coast experiential team for Diageo, and running events for Oprah and Rodeo Drive clients through his prior business, Alchemy.  He currently holds the title of Founder and CEO of the entertainment and media industry’s most recognized social media management firm, TSMA Consulting. Ryan travels the world educating professionals on targeting and capturing the attention of Millennial and Generation Z consumers through utilization of social media algorithms and content.

Read more

More GD News