Page 95 - Bloomberg Businessweek-October 29, 2018

◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek October 29, 2018

Ltd. “Putting boots on the ground, making sure Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy advocate.
it’s a good experience in that market for the long Some providers say these tracking tools are
term, and making sure there’s not going to be polit- meant to measure user reaction to app updates and
ical problems.” At the London conference, there was other changes. Jude McColgan, chief executive offi-
little evidence the company had learned those les- cer of Boston-based Localytics, says he hasn’t seen
sons. It seemed to be resting on its old assumption clients use the technology to target former users
that it can work out any problems after everyone is with ads. Ehren Maedge, vice president for mar-
on Facebook. �Sarah Frier and Thomas Seal keting and sales at San Francisco-based MoEngage
Inc., says it’s up to the app makers not to do so.
THE BOTTOM LINE In its quest for growth, Facebook is teaming “The dialogue is between our customers and their
up with telecoms in developing markets, while its solutions to
problems fueled by the service worldwide remain largely reactive. end users,” he says. “If they violate users’ trust, it’s
not going to go well for them.” Adjust, AppsFlyer,
and CleverTap didn’t respond to requests for com-
ment, nor did T-Mobile, Spotify, or Yelp.
Uninstall tracking exploits a core element of
Apps Aren’t Taking Apple Inc.’s and Google’s mobile operating sys-
Delete for an Answer tems: push notifications. Developers have always
been able to use so-called silent push notifications
to ping installed apps at regular intervals without
alerting the user—to refresh an inbox or social media
feed while the app is running in the background,
for example. But if the app doesn’t ping the devel-
oper back, the app is logged as uninstalled, and the
uninstall tracking tools add those changes to the file
associated with the given mobile device’s unique

28 advertising ID, details that make it easy to identify
just who’s holding the phone and advertise the app
to him wherever he goes.
The tools violate Apple and Google policies
against using silent push notifications to build adver-
tising audiences, says Alex Austin, CEO of Branch
● Uninstall trackers make it easy for developers Metrics Inc., which makes software for developers
to pester former users with targeted ads but chose not to create an uninstall tracker. “It’s just
generally sketchy to track people around the inter-
net after they’ve opted out of using your product,”
If it seems as if the app you deleted last week is he says, adding that he expects Apple and Google to
suddenly popping up all over, it may not be mere crack down on the practice soon. Apple and Google
coincidence. Companies that cater to app makers didn’t respond to requests for comment.
have found ways to game both iOS and Android, At its best, uninstall tracking can be used to fix
enabling them to figure out which users have bugs or otherwise refine apps without having to
uninstalled a given piece of software lately—and bother users with surveys or more intrusive tools.
making it easy to pelt the deserters with ads aimed But the ability to abuse the system beyond its orig-
at winning them back. inal intent exemplifies the bind that accompanies
Adjust, AppsFlyer, MoEngage, Localytics, the modern internet, Gillula says. To participate,
and CleverTap are among the companies that users must typically agree to share their data freely,
offer uninstall trackers, usually as part of a probably forever, not knowing exactly how it may
broader set of developer tools. Their customers be used down the road. “As an app developer, I
include T-Mobile, Spotify Technology, and Yelp. would expect to be able to know how many people
(Bloomberg Businessweek parent Bloomberg LP have uninstalled an app,” he says. “I would not say
uses Localytics.) Critics say they’re a fresh rea- that, as an app developer, you have a right to know
son to reassess online privacy rights and limit exactly who installed and uninstalled your app.”
what companies can do with user data. “Most �Gerrit De Vynck
tech com panies are not giving people nuanced
privacy choices, if they give them choices at all,” THE BOTTOM LINE Uninstall tracking violates Apple and Google
policies against ad­focused use of their mobile developer tools, but
says Jeremy Gillula, tech policy director at the so far the companies haven’t taken action.