We develop an SDK that requires sharing a device-specific identifier with our web API, in order to guarantee that certain artifacts are only used on the correct device. For the device-specific identifier, we use UIDevice.currentDevice.identifierForVendor which should not be restricted under ATT.
In production, many developers are getting back to us with complaints of web requests being blocked:
nw_endpoint_handler_path_change [C1 [our url]:443 waiting parent-flow (satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi)] blocked tracker
Connection 1: received failure notification
Connection 1: failed to connect 1:50, reason -1
Connection 1: encountered error(1:50)
Task <FA03088C-DDFC-437E-A06F-E05CC930E3E0>.<1> HTTP load failed, 0/0 bytes (error code: -1009 [1:50])
Task <FA03088C-DDFC-437E-A06F-E05CC930E3E0>.<1> finished with error [-1009] Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1009 "The Internet connection appears to be offline." UserInfo={_kCFStreamErrorCodeKey=50, NSUnderlyingError=0x3031118f0 {Error Domain=kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork Code=-1009 "(null)" UserInfo={_NSURLErrorBlockedTrackerFailureKey=true, _kCFStreamErrorDomainKey=1, _kCFStreamErrorCodeKey=50, _NSURLErrorNWPathKey=satisfied (Path is satisfied), interface: en0[802.11], ipv4, dns, uses wifi}}, _NSURLErrorFailingURLSessionTaskErrorKey=LocalDataTask <FA03088C-DDFC-437E-A06F-E05CC930E3E0>.<1>, _NSURLErrorRelatedURLSessionTaskErrorKey=(
"LocalDataTask <FA03088C-DDFC-437E-A06F-E05CC930E3E0>.<1>"
), NSLocalizedDescription=The Internet connection appears to be offline., NSErrorFailingURLStringKey=..., NSErrorFailingURLKey=..., _kCFStreamErrorDomainKey=1}
Interestingly, I've made a few observations:
The blacklist seems to be persistent, across devices.
The blacklist stays in place regardless of whether we send no identifiable data in the web request (in fact, an empty ping request to our URL still gets blocked)
The only way to get past the block is to use ATT, and request from the user that we track them across websites. This is false, because we don't track any user data whatsoever; and iOS disables ATT by default (in the settings app, users have to opt-in).
Our iOS SDK already has an xcprivacy manifest mentioning the fact that we use a device-specific identifier, and that we send it to our web API URL. Still, we get blocked.
How can we fix this? We can standup a proxy URL but I'd imagine it's only a matter of time before that also gets blocked. Apple has not provided any guidance on the specifics of how domains get blocked, and how they can be unblocked.