If an app asks to track your activity

App Tracking Transparency allows you to choose whether an app can track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites for the purposes of advertising or sharing with data brokers.

Starting in iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5 and tvOS 14.5, apps must ask for permission before tracking your activity across other companies’ apps and websites. Tracking occurs when information that identifies you or your device collected from an app is linked to information that identifies you or your device collected on apps, websites and other locations owned by third parties for the purposes of targeted advertising or advertising measurement, or when the information collected is shared with data brokers.

Find out more about app tracking and other privacy controls

Your iPhone alerts you when an app asks to track your activity.

If an app asks to track your activity

If you see a request to track your activity, you can tap Allow or Ask App Not to Track. You can still use the full capabilities of the app, regardless of whether you allow the app to track your activity.

The app developer can customise part of the message to explain why the app is asking to track your activity. You can also visit the app’s product page in the App Store for more details about how the app developer uses your data.

If you choose Ask App Not to Track, the app developer can’t access the system advertising identifier (IDFA), which is often used for tracking. The app is also not permitted to track your activity using other information that identifies you or your device, such as your email address.

Manage activity tracking permissions

At any time, you can give or withdraw permission for an app to track your activity.

  1. Go to Privacy & Security settings to see a list of apps that have requested to track your activity.

    • On iPhone or iPad: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.

    • On Apple TV: Go to Settings > General > Privacy & Security > Tracking.

  2. Tap to turn off or turn on permission to track for a specific app.

In Privacy & Security settings on iPhone, you can see which apps have asked to track your activity and you can adjust your permissions.

If you turn off "Allow Apps to Request to Track" in Privacy & Security settings, you won't get prompts from apps that want to track your activity. Each app that asks for permission to track while this setting is turned off will be treated as if you tapped Ask App Not to Track.

You can also choose to ask all apps that you previously allowed to track to stop tracking your activity. Or you can allow just the apps to which you previously gave permission to continue to track your activity.

If you can't turn on the "Allow Apps to Request to Track" setting

In some circumstances, the "Allow Apps to Request to Track" setting can't be turned on, including:

  • For users with child accounts or who are under age 18 by birth year, signed in with their Apple Account*

  • If your Apple Account is managed by an educational or business institution

  • If your device is managed and uses a configuration profile that limits tracking

  • If your Apple Account was created in the last 3 days

While this setting is turned off, each app that requests to track is unable to access the advertising identifier (IDFA). If the status of your account or device changes and you then choose to enable “Allow Apps to Request to Track”, the app's next request to track will display the permission prompt to you.

* Child account age varies by country and region.

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