Apple Holds an Auction for Your Data in Privacy Policy Push

Following the protagonist, Ellie, the new spot from Apple titled ‘Privacy on iPhone, Data Auction’ shows what happens to all of your data, albeit in a whimsical and fantastical way. Opening a door into her own data auction room, Ellie watches on as an eccentric crowd of data-brokers place increasingly higher bids for various lots of her information. From her emails to her contacts, purchase history and every other collected set of data, the appalled Ellie has to stand by and witness her life being auctioned off - seemingly without her prior knowledge or consent.

The ‘Data Auction’ ad comes one year after Apple revealed its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) features to detail its re-doubled efforts to poise the tech company’s smartphone and computer offerings as the go-to choices for the privacy-conscious consumer. Using this auction room imagery to represent how companies collect user data and sell it to third parties, Apple is hoping to promote the privacy features built into iOS, such as Mail Privacy Protection, App Tracking Transparency and the App Privacy Report. 

As user data and privacy has come to the forefront of conversation in recent years, not just in the tech sphere but more prominently in the general news cycle -  à la the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal - tech companies are beginning to change their approaches to data privacy and transparency. Any Apple product with iOS 15.2 for instance can not only produce reports of how often different apps access your data, but require the apps to ask for permission before tracking your activity on other apps and websites.

The ‘Data Auction’ ad ends with Ellie’s iPhone’s data privacy measures saving the day - keeping her user data safe from being accessed and sold to the baying crowd of data brokers. With wonderfully fun visuals that are almost as satisfying as keeping your data safe, the bidding brokers explode into clouds of colourful smoke, leaving Ellie to browse, chat and download in peace.

Apple is also launching an OOH campaign in major cities worldwide to accompany the film, framing Apple and iPhone as the destination for privacy via the slogan: ‘Privacy. That’s iPhone.’ Check out the full film below: