Authors Bo Bian, Michaela Pagel and Huan Tang investigated the relationship between the rollout of Apple's App Tracking Transparency and reports of consumer financial fraud.
By default, Apple's ATT opted all iPhone users out of tracking, which meant that apps and websites no longer received user identifiers unless they obtained user permission.
The highlight of the research is that Apple users were less likely to be victims of financial fraud after Apple implemented the App Tracking Transparency policy.
The results showed a 10% increase in the share of Apple users in a particular ZIP code leads to roughly 3% reduction in financial fraud complaints.
The authors primarily use the number of financial fraud complaints and the amount of money lost due to fraud to track how much fraud is happening.
These figures are obtained from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission.
The researchers used machine learning and keyword searches to narrow the complaints down to those related to financial fraud that was caused by lax data privacy as opposed to other types of financial fraud.
The study used data acquired by a company called Safegraph to determine the share of iPhone users on ZIP code level.
It then estimated the effect of Apple's ATT,on the number of complaints of financial fraud in each ZIP code.
The researchers also investigated variation in this reduction across different demographic groups.
They found that the effect is stronger for minorities, women, and younger people-suggesting that these groups, which may have been more vulnerable to fraud before, saw a greater increase in protection when Apple turned on ATT. To test the accuracy and reliability of their results, the researchers employed many different methods typically used in a statistical analysis.
While the scope of the data is small, this is the first significant research we've seen that connects increased privacy with decreased fraud.
It reinforces that when companies take steps to protect our privacy, they also help protect us from financial fraud.
In implementing ATT, Apple has proven something EFF has long said: with over 75% of consumers as of May 2022 keeping all tracking off rather than opting in, it's clear that most consumers want more privacy than they are currently getting through the surveillance business model.
Now, with this research it seems that when they get more privacy, they also get some protection against fraud as well.
Of course, we are not done pushing Apple or anyone else on stepping up for our privacy.
We appreciate Apple for implementing ATT. The initial research indicates that it may have a welcome additional effect for all of us who need both privacy and security against fraud.
The use of this data in several academic research projects speaks to the reach of unethical data brokers as well as to the need to rein them in, both with technical measures like ATT and with robust consumer data privacy legislation.
The use of this data does not take away from the credibility of the research and its conclusions.
The iOS share per ZIP code could have been determined by other legitimate sources, but that would have had no effect on the results determining the impact of ATT. Thanks to EFF Intern Muhammad Essa for research and key drafting help with this blog post.
This Cyber News was published on www.eff.org. Publication date: Mon, 18 Dec 2023 21:13:06 +0000