In response to advertising industry objections to Safari’s new Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature, Apple explained how ad tracking companies are able to recreate a person’s browsing history using cross-site tracking techniques. All of this can be done without the user’s permission.
Apple’s new Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature in Safari is aiming to stop these ad tracking companies from invading your privacy. In a statement to The Loop, Apple said:
“Apple believes that people have a right to privacy – Safari was the first browser to block third party cookies by default and Intelligent Tracking Prevention is a more advanced method for protecting user privacy.
Ad tracking technology has become so pervasive that it is possible for ad tracking companies to recreate the majority of a person’s web browsing history. This information is collected without permission and is used for ad re-targeting, which is how ads follow people around the Internet. The new Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature detects and eliminates cookies and other data used for this cross-site tracking, which means it helps keep a person’s browsing private. The feature does not block ads or interfere with legitimate tracking on the sites that people actually click on and visit. Cookies for sites that you interact with function as designed, and ads placed by web publishers will appear normally.”
Announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Safari’s intelligent cookie blocker uses machine learning algorithms to reduce invasive cross-site ad vendor tracking. The technology obscures a user’s online activity from being tracked without their knowledge.
