Twitter will soon start tracking apps you use on your smartphone in a bid to show more targeted ads. Twitter says it will just track the list of apps on your smartphone, not the data inside the app.
Twitter plans to use the app graph to deliver “tailored experience” on the platform. The app graph will help the site deliver more improved “who to follow” suggestions and more relevant promoted content.
If you don't want Twitter to track your apps, you need to choose “Limit Ad Tracking” on your iOS device or adjust your Android device settings to “Opt out of interest-based ads”.
Twitter says it will notify users when the feature has been activated on their accounts. "We will notify you about this feature being turned on for your account by showing a prompt letting you know that to help tailor your experience, Twitter uses the apps on your device. Until you see this prompt, this setting is turned off and we are not collecting a list of your apps."
Twitter now joins the long-list of Internet companies who have been using the “graph” tactic to collect information from your device. Twitter has been making all out efforts to stay in competition with Facebook, and has also been focussing on monetising the platform.
The company had last year announced moving into cookie and email-based ad targeting. Twitter allowed retailers to attach anonymous versions of their customers email addresses, called hashes, to Twitter's advertising engine so that it can individually target the customer base.
It's notable Facebook has been consistently criticised for its privacy policies and targeted ads. Twitter is set to receive more backlash from users, especially from privacy advocates.
What do you think about Twitter's move to track apps installed on your mobile device? Let us know your views in the comments section below:
Source: Twitter