"Apple faces privacy case in Europe over iPhone tracking ID", 17 November 2020.

The consumer rights activist Max Schrems has filed a formal privacy case against Apple, arguing that an ID generated by iPhones that lets advertisers track users violates privacy regulations.

Schrems, whose lawsuit against Facebook led to a landmark ruling restricting data transfers from the EU to the US, has made the case through his privacy rights non-profit Noyb, which has filed formal complaints in Spain and Berlin against Apple.

At the core of the complaint is Apple’s generation of the IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) on each iPhone. Advertisers can then use the IDFA to track users across various apps, and better target them for personalised advertising...

But, Noyb argues, simply generating it could breach EU privacy law, since it is created without the user’s “knowledge or consent”. And while users are given control over whether they reset the identifier, and allowed to prevent individual apps from accessing it, they cannot, Noyb says, prevent it from being generated in the first place.

“EU law protects our devices from external tracking,” said Stefano Rossetti, a privacy lawyer at Noyb. “Tracking is only allowed if users explicitly consent to it...

In a statement, Apple strongly denied Noyb’s complaints had merit. “The claims made against Apple in this complaint are factually inaccurate and we look forward to making that clear to privacy regulators should they examine the complaint. Apple does not access or use the IDFA on a user’s device for any purpose...