It's a feature many of us would welcome on our smartphones: A tech company can only track your movement across the web for advertising purposes if you give your consent.

Apple had been planning to make this a reality for iPhone users, but was then forced to put this iOS innovation on hold after protests from advertisers.

Now, Apple is taking app developers to task instead, and from iOS 14 onwards, the tech giant will require that app developers specify exactly which data their apps collect on the user.

App developers will also no longer be able to hide their efforts to track you inside epic, cryptic agreements, and Apple says users will see two clearly structured tables giving an overview before you install any app on the App Store.

One table contains information about the type of data that is collected - such as health and fitness, finances, location, sensitive data (handicaps, sexual orientation, etc.), contacts, user content (mails, photos, videos, etc.), browser and search history or device ID.

The other table is intended to show how the collected data is used - for example, for third-party advertising, developer advertising, app analysis or product personalisation.

The new rule applies not only to parts of the app that the developers build, but also third-party components, for example from so-called software development kits (SDKs).

Apple recently postponed an important data protection component for the upcoming iOS 14, which is currently still in beta testing, until next year.

In future, users will have to opt in before apps can access a device's advertising ID to track how they are used online.

 - dpa