Sources: Apple sends cease and desist emails to Chinese apps testing CAID, which is designed to track users in spite of Apple's upcoming IDFA privacy changes
Earlier this week, Patrick McGee and Yuan Yang explained … Tweets: Lara O'Reilly / @larakiara : Apple has begun warning developers against trying to get around its new app privacy rules, @FT reports. One developer who received such a warning was using the state-backed China Advertising Association ID (CAID) according to @FT https://www.ft.com/... Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : @neilcybart Creation of CAID goes back to December, perhaps earlier. Multiple Chinese groups say they've had tacit permission or active involvement from Apple (eg, they don't believe they are breaking rules, hence public materials from CAA.) Since our 1st story, Apple has cracked down Neil Cybart / @neilcybart : @PatrickMcGee_ My CAID question: The timeline is odd. We have Apple apparently: 1) Being in discussion with devs 2) Turning a blind eye 3) Sending cease and desist emails Did actions materialize in that order? Implies focus on CAID pushed Apple. Or have all 3 been on going? @chrismessina : Trackers gunna track #IDFA #privacy https://twitter.com/... Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : UPDATE: I've heard from three Chinese developers that Apple has given them a 14-day deadline to disable CAID in their apps or face removal from the App Store https://twitter.com/... Marques Brownlee / @mkbhd : Who's gonna tell Intel that there's also Intel-powered laptops with USB-C 🙃 https://twitter.com/... Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : Re: CAID, I was just shown an app update rejection for a Chinese app for collecting system information used to construct a persistent identifier. I asserted that Apple would not apply a separate standard for ATT compliance for Chinese companies, and it appears that it isnt https://twitter.com/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Waiting for the hot takes on Apple's Chinese privacy fight https://twitter.com/... Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : .@Apple CAID scoop part two, with considerably more detail on how this IDFA-workaround works. Some Chinese groups have moved beyond testing and tried to get into App Store Apple warns Chinese apps not to dodge its new privacy rules https://www.ft.com/... via @financialtimes Chris Hoofnagle / @hoofnagle : I wonder how much daylight there is between NAI et al and the Chinese version of adtech https://www.ft.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
CAID emerged from Chinese industry efforts to preserve a persistent advertising identifier as Apple prepared its IDFA privacy changes; Tencent and ByteDance testing the tool put the conflict between local adtech interests and App Store rules into view.
Apple’s reported notices turn that policy dispute into app-distribution enforcement. Later coverage found that the CAID effort lost traction after Apple blocked app updates, while subsequent reporting documented other routes for collecting data after ATT.
First-order effects
- Chinese apps using CAID reportedly have 14 days to disable it or risk App Store removal, making continued access to Apple’s distribution channel contingent on dropping the identifier.
- Apple establishes that collecting system information to construct a persistent identifier is treated as a violation of its new privacy rules, not merely an alternative implementation.
Second-order effects
- Tencent, ByteDance, Baidu, and other participants in the CAID initiative face pressure to abandon a shared workaround rather than build ad measurement around it, because Apple can reject updates as well as remove apps.
- Chinese adtech and app publishers must redirect targeting and measurement toward approaches that fit Apple’s rules; later reporting that Meta and Snap collected aggregated and anonymized iOS data illustrates the narrower data strategies developers were pursuing.
Third-order effects
- The episode reinforces App Store review and update approval as Apple’s practical enforcement layer for ATT: platform privacy policy can determine which advertising identifiers survive on iOS.
- If developers keep pursuing identifiers outside ATT, the market is likely to shift from a single device-level ID toward a contest between platform enforcement and less direct forms of measurement.
The trend: Mobile adtech is moving from stable device identifiers toward platform-governed measurement methods, with App Store distribution enforcing the boundary.