Apple was met with criticism from a group of marketing organizations for its decision to release a new version of Safari which blocks cross-site tracking. Apple however, has defended the move, stating that cross-site tracking has become “so pervasive” that ad tracking companies which could easily recreate web browsing history.
The Cupertino giant has explained that Safari has always been a leader when it comes to user piracy, being the first browser to block third-party cookies by default and more. MacOS High Sierra now adds a feature called Intelligent Tracking Prevision which takes purging data and cookies to a new level.
Apple in a statement, says, “Ad tracking technology has become so pervasive that it is possible for ad tracking companies to recreate the majority of a person’s web browsing history. This information is collected without permission and is used for ad re-targeting, which is how ads follow people around the Internet.
The new Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature detects and eliminates cookies and other data used for this cross-site tracking, which means it helps keep a person’s browsing private. The feature does not block ads or interfere with legitimate tracking on the sites that people actually click on and visit. Cookies for sites that you interact with function as designed, and ads placed by web publishers will appear normally.”
