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  Today in Health it, the story is iPhone privacy settings. My name is Bill Russell. I'm a former CIO for 16 hospital system and creator of this week in Health IT a channel dedicated to keeping health IT staff current. I. And engaged, no sponsor for today. If you want to get your message in front of a targeted healthcare audience, send an email to partner at this week in health it.com.

Also wanna let you know our website redesign is just about done. Check it out at this week, health.com. Let us know what you think. Alright. On to today's story. We go all over the place with this show. Sometimes we talk about the business of healthcare, health, tech, innovation. We talk cybersecurity.

Sometimes we just talk tech. Today is a tech talk. Something is happening on iOS and if I were ACIO, I'd want to get ahead of this for the community that I serve. Perhaps send them information on what to expect, be their trusted source of information on all things technology and digital. This is from the Wall Street Journal.

The title of this article is iPhone Apps, asking to Track You Answers to Your iOS 14.5 privacy questions. I'm gonna read a bunch of this article, but the net of this is that privacy used to be something that was way in the background on your iPhone and it was something you had to dig through and find.

And for each app, select it. What's gonna happen now is they're gonna bring it front and center. You're gonna see popups that say, Hey, . We're gonna track you, and they are going to have to make it known to you, and you're gonna have to either let them do it or not do it. Lemme give you some of the article on these popups.

You'll have two options to choose from, allow or ask app not to track. The idea is that instead of digging through complicated settings to opt out of tracking, you don't really see or even are aware of, you can now opt in if you enjoy targeted ads. Apps will now ask you, before sharing the data with other apps or third party advertisers or data brokers for that matter, it's all part of Apple's effort to present you with more privacy controls.

Wait, I. Apps are tracking me. Oh, yes. Apps have been tracking you. I think we know this generally, you know, you, you hit that website or you hit that thing on your phone, and then all of a sudden you're in Facebook or on Google, and the ads look like somebody's been listening to you and they really have been listening to you.

They've been following you through a thing called the Identifier. So let me tell you how this thing works. When you're browsing on a on a computer, it uses cookies. iPhone apps tend to use a secret string of numbers on your phone, and it's called the IDFA Identifier for Advertisers, and it is used for tracking and identifying what you do in apps and across apps.

Android has something similar to this. Here's an example of how it works, and you know this. This is what I was just talking about. You download a free ad supported meal tracking app. Then a few hours later you start seeing ads for weight loss or healthy eating in your Facebook feed. You also start seeing ads based on what Facebook knows about you.

Maybe. Your interest in technology or comfy clothing, write in the food tracking app. What's happened behind the scenes is that the food tracking app and Facebook matched information about you using the IDFA. Since most apps use this id, the data attached to your IDFA can include everything from what apps you've downloaded to your phone and what you've searched for and their, your purchase history and location for that matter, and a lot more.

Crazy, isn't it? I think what's gonna happen is your users are gonna say, Hey, I'm seeing all these popups on my phone, and most of them aren't gonna realize or even be aware of the extent of all this tracking that's going on on their phone. So Apple, . Has decided to bring it front and center, and I really believe that as an IT leader, it's our responsibility to help people through this and help them to understand that they are being tracked on their phones and how they're being tracked on their phones and what to do with these new messages.

So let's talk about what to do with these new messages. What happens when I tap ASK App not to track. When you tap this option, you're opting out of tracking and the app is prevented from accessing your IDFA. Beyond that number, this prompt is a signal to apps that you don't wanna be tracked in any other way.

Including personal information like email address, phone number, according to Apple App, developers are responsible for ensuring they comply with your choices. What happens when I tap, allow business as usual, same tracking, same things that have been happening all along are gonna continue to happen, and they're gonna get creative.

On ways to get people to tap, allow for these things. What if I don't want any popups? There's actually a universal setting. You go find that universal setting and set it, and then even the popups don't come up. It'll just say, Hey, we already know what this person wants, and they do not want to be tracked.

Apple CEO, Tim Cook has continued that commitment and condemned how app tracking tools are turning consumers into add magnets. Let's also not forget that Apple, unlike Facebook or Google, doesn't depend on ad revenue, but the sale of hardware and services is their source of revenue. Facebook has vocally opposed Apple's move explaining that businesses rely on these personalized advertising settings.

You know, it's funny, I I, I hear that and I sort of think that's the craziest argument I've ever heard. Okay. If you rely on that business, just ask. Just ask, and I may give you access if you're providing enough value to me, and if I feel like you're using my information in a way that is congruent with my values, what's the so what on this?

This is a significant change and people are gonna be asking questions. I like to get ahead of these things for my community. I like to send out an email. If I were ACIO of an organization, I'd like to be the one who's pointing them to the Wall Street Journal article, giving them some explanations on what they are seeing.

This is a digital device they're using to access information on your network, and the responsible people are probably gonna contact you or contact your help desk. I'd also let your help desk know that this is going on. This is a device that a significant number of people in your organization are carrying.

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