iPhone Privacy Clampdown Arrives after 7-Month Delay

Apple is following through on its pledge to crack down on Facebook and other snoopy apps that secretly shadow people on their iPhones in order to target more advertising at users.

The new privacy feature, dubbed ''App Tracking Transparency,'' rolled out Monday as part of an update to the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad. The anti-tracking shield included in iOS 14.5 arrives after a seven-month delay during which Apple and Facebook attacked each other’s business models and motives for decisions that affect billions of people around the world.

''What this feud demonstrates more than anything is that Facebook and Apple have tremendous gatekeeping powers over the market,'' said Elizabeth Renieris, founding director of the Technology Ethics Lab at the University of Notre Dame.

But Apple says it is just looking out for the best interests of the more than 1 billion people currently using iPhones.