An analysis of Apple's campaign targeting privacy and data protection concerns.

1. PRIVACY
&
DATA PROTECTION
A P P L E ’ S P U R S U I T O F
S E C U R I N G & P R OT E C T I N G
C O N S U M E R DATA
BY
LEON SYLVESTER LEMOS
SENECA@YORK
MARKETING MANAGEMENT

2. THIRD PARTY DATA AND EXTRACTION OF DATA
The face of digital marketing changed with the ease of access to the internet. Marketers saw an opportunity to move
online and expand their reach. For years, companies have relied on third party data to drive their digital efforts with
successful outcomes. This is also a cost effective way to reach a wide range of target audiences and everything had
been going well until 2018 when data privacy concerns were echoing through the market but a solid blow was the
iOS 14.5 update by Apple Inc in 2021.
T H E T I M E L I N E O F R E S T R I C T I O N S O N DATA C O L L EC T I O N
As the timeline shows, tech
companies have been trying to
gain more control over third
party data usage. But, Apple
did what Blackberry did with
their highly encrypted
messenger (BBM). It promote
privacy as a valuable factor to
influence purchase patterns.
Image source: Arcalea.com 2

3. PRIVACY – A GROWING VALUABLE ATTRIBUTE
Consumers have taken a firm stance against the use of their data which is being collected by websites and companies.
There are a few sentiments that are resonating amongst the consumers:
• They avoid purchasing from organizations that do not
• properly protect their data.
• They have begun to support privacy and data protection
• laws as they feel vulnerable.
• They are also concerned about the use of their data.
• 56% were concerned about the usage of their data in AI.
• 17% of the respondents asked companies to delete their
• data.
• Nearly 50% of the respondents mentioned that they were unable to protect their data as companies are not
• clear about the usage of said data.
Image source: Cisco 2021 Consumer Privacy Survey
3

4. iOS 14.5 UPDATE AND ITS FEATURES
Apple rolled out its iOS 14.5 on 26th April 2021 and made waves in the
industry with its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature. The ATT feature
effectively blocks the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) so that companies
cannot track your data across apps and services. The ATT prompts a
notification wherein a user can choose not to share the data which will
disable the app from sharing your data or even use your email address for
tracking. This feature impacted all the stakeholders involved, especially the
companies wanting to advertise through Apple devices.
“Privacy is no longer an afterthought; it is core to how we work and
interact with each other. The Age of Privacy has arrived.” - 2021 Cisco Data
Privacy Benchmark Study
AT T F E AT U R E :
Image source: Forbes
4

5. AD CAMPAIGN – PRIVACY. THAT’S IPHONE.
5
This was the first advertisement that was released to explain the
features of the ATT feature that Apple had just introduced. This
video just had a voiceover with simple animation that gave out a
feeling of urgency, probably to update to the new OS and also to
notify the users that it was serious about their data.
Apple came out with this interesting bit which takes
place in an auction house. The data of an individual is
sold to buyers and the user has no control over it. They
wanted to reinforce the idea that the users had
complete control over the data that they chose to share.
A P R I L 2 0 2 1 – A P P T R A C K I N G T R A N S PA R E N C Y :
M AY 2 0 2 2 – DATA AU C T I O N :
Image source: YouTube
Image source: YouTube

6. “PRIVACY. THAT’S IPHONE.”
6
AGENCY: TBWAChiatDay Media Arts Lab
DIRECTED BY: Ivan Zacharias – Smugglers
RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2022
RUN TIME: 94 seconds
VIEWS (YOUTUBE): 11.7 Million
COUNTRIES: 24
DESCRIPTION: “iPhone has privacy features like App Tracking
Transparency and Mail Privacy Protection that help you control
who sees your data and who doesn’t.”
RELEASE DATE: April 26, 2021
RUN TIME: 116 seconds
VIEWS (YOUTUBE): 2.5 Million
DESCRIPTION: “App Tracking Transparency lets you control
which apps are allowed to track your activity across other
companies’ apps and websites.”
Image source: YouTube
Image source: YouTube

7. IMPACT ON APPLE
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Apple has benefitted from the roll out of this
campaign as it’s services business, which includes
subscription and advertising revenues, has seen a
growth of 24% in the last quarter which amounts
to USD 19.5 Billion.
The overall revenue of the company has risen by
11% to USD 123.9 Billion.
According to mobile analytics firm Branch, Apple
search ads driving all iPhone app downloads
attributed to advertising have risen from 17% to
58% in one year.
One month after the launch of the feature, 95% of Apple users opted out of sharing their personal data. This was a
huge blow to advertisers depending on third party data.
Currently, ~25% of users have opted in for sharing their data to third party entities. Consumers are striking a balance
between privacy and personalized ads as they grow more informative about privacy and data protection laws.

8. IMPACT ON CONSUMERS & BUSINESSES
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B U S I N E S S E S :
As on May 2022, Android users make up for 71.43% and iOS users make up for 27.85%. This means that there are
limitations on 1/4th of the market and the companies might as well spend more portions of their budget on the
available Android market.
A majority of smaller companies rely on digital channels for advertising, and they will have to look at other avenues to
generate leads to convert to sales. Most of these are app companies who do not have the capital to invest in other
modes of advertising.
Following suit, even Facebook and Google have updated their data tracking features and that is another blow. Facebook
has been affected by it as it cannot track user data anymore for the ATT enabled users. Companies will have to rely on
first party data to conduct their business and it will also enable consumers to be more involved in the digital ecosystem.
C O N S U M E R S :
It addressed the growing privacy concerns and empowered the consumers as they were able to have more
control over the data that was shared from their devices. This also means that Apple users are receiving
less targeted ads than their android counterparts as the advertising spend on iOS has dropped by 32%.
48% of people globally have stopped buying or using a service from a company due to privacy concerns.

9. HOW OTHER COMPANIES ARE CHANGING
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IKEA Retail’s Chief Digital Officer said that “It is crucial for businesses to think beyond legal compliance
and consider ethical aspects when it comes to consumer data. It’s no longer good enough to think only
about what we can do with people’s data, the question must be what should we do.”
I K EA :
M A S T E R C A R D :
Mastercard’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer observed that “Today, more than ever, people
expect full transparency, control and choice over how their data is shared and used by companies, and
any brands that ignore this shift will be left behind. It is essential for the advertising and marketing
industry to take a proactive approach and demonstrate to consumers that big brands respect them and
their data.”
L'Oréal's Chief Digital Officer said that “While data enables brands to personalise and customise
customers’ experiences, the industry as a whole needs to mobilise to ensure that data collection and use
are handled with the highest level of transparency and ethics, given consumers’ trust is the number one
currency for brands and the reason why we need to rethink data sharing as true value exchange.”
L’O R E A L :

10. WORKS CITED
“Cisco 2021 Consumer Privacy Survey”, Cisco.com. https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/doing_business/trust-center/docs/cisco-consumer-
privacy-infographic-2021.pdf
Davis, Sarah. “Consumer Privacy & Ecommerce Trends, Stats, & News”, roirevolution.com. May 12, 2022. https://roirevolution.com/blog/consumer-
privacy-ecommerce-stats-trends-updates-your-brand-needs-to-
know/#:~:text=According%20to%20our%20research%2C%20consumer,mind%20for%20them%20in%202022.
“Data on auction: Apple’s ad highlights users’ control over their personal data”, brandequity.com. May 20, 2022.
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/data-on-auction-apples-ad-highlights-users-control-over-their-personal-
data/91680103
“Digital Advertising after Third-Party Cookies”, Arcalea.com. https://www.arcalea.com/blog/digital-advertising-after-third-party-cookies
Dulberg, Rachel. “Why the world’s biggest brands care about privacy”, uxdesign.cc. September 14, 2021. https://uxdesign.cc/who-cares-about-privacy-
ed6d832156dd
Goetzen, Nina. “Apple ad revenues skyrocket amid its privacy changes”, emarketer.com. January, 2022. https://www.emarketer.com/content/apple-ad-
revenues-skyrocket-amid-its-privacy-changes
O’Flaherty, Kate. “iOS 14.5: How to Use Apple’s Stunning New iPhone Privacy Feature”, Forbes.com. April 7, 2021.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2021/04/07/ios-145-how-to-use-apples-stunning-new-iphone-privacy-
feature/?sh=1954a8245d6b
Waitman, Robert. “Study: Consumers are taking more active role in protecting their privacy”, iapp.org. October 13, 2021.
https://iapp.org/news/a/study-consumers-are-taking-more-active-role-in-protecting-their-privacy/#
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