Apple Allows Limited Data Analytics, But Not By Google or Microsoft

Apple has updated its developer agreement to allow companies to collect data for ad serving if they obtain permission; however, large competitors such as Google and Microsoft may still be blocked.

Here is the updated section 3.3.9:

3.3.9 You and Your Applications may not collect, use, or disclose to any third party, user or device data without prior user consent, and then only under the following conditions:
- The collection, use or disclosure is necessary in order to provide a service or function that is directly relevant to the use of the Application. For example, without Apple’s prior written consent, You may not use third party analytics software in Your Application to collect and send device data to a third party for aggregation, processing, or analysis.
- The collection, use or disclosure is for the purpose of serving advertising to Your Application; is provided to an independent advertising service provider whose primary business is serving mobile ads (for example, an advertising service provider owned by or affiliated with a developer or distributor of mobile devices, mobile operating systems or development environments other than Apple would not qualify as independent); and the disclosure is limited to UDID, user location data, and other data specifically designated by Apple as available for advertising purposes.


Notice in the last point that Apple is only allowing "independent" ad serving companies to collect data: “For example, an advertising service provider owned by or affiliated with a developer or distributor of mobile devices, mobile operating systems or development environments other than Apple would not qualify as independent.”

This language seems to disqualify an of Apple's real competitors like Google and Microsoft who are both developers/distributors of mobile operating systems.