Oliver Haslam·

Facebook And Instagram Are Asking iOS 14.5 Users To Keep Tracking Enabled To Help Keep The Services Free Of Charge

With iOS 14.5 now available and being installed on iPhones and iPads around the world, developers now need a user’s permission before they can track them between apps and websites.

Both Facebook and Instagram are seeking that permission – and they’re hinting they might not be able to offer their services for free without it.

Both Facebook and Instagram now present messages when iOS prompts for a user’s permission. They’re both identical, and they both suggest that they may no longer be able to offer their apps free if users don’t allow them to track them.

Facebook already explained that the new screens are “educational,” although they seem more like a veiled threat than anything else.

To help people make a more informed decision, we’re also showing a screen of our own, along with Apple’s. It will provide more information about how we use personalized ads, which support small businesses and keep apps free. If you accept the prompts for Facebook and Instagram, the ads you see on those apps won’t change. If you decline, you will still see ads, but they will be less relevant to you. Agreeing to these prompts doesn’t result in Facebook collecting new types of data. It just means that we can continue to give people better experiences.

App Store guidelines prevent developers from offering incentives to users to allow them to be tracked and it remains to be seen whether this falls under that, or not.

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