Apps, or applications, are software that are either pre-installed on the device you are using or that you installed yourself, typically from an “app store.” They are are similar to other pieces of software you may have installed, but there are a few differences worth taking into account. When you install software from an app store, you provide the company running that store with a complete list of software and versions you have installed on your computer. This can be useful, of course, as it helps you keep your apps updated, but it also allows the app store and the company that runs it to track your usage of these applications.
Your interaction with advertisements displayed through apps cannot be tracked by advertising companies in the same way as browser based ads, which are monitored using cookies. For this reason, there are now several new mechanisms - including Apple's IFA (identifier for advertisers), Google's Android ID, and comparable techniques from Microsoft and some larger online advertisement networks - being developed to help advertisers track your use of apps on mobile phones, computers and gaming consoles as closely as they currently track your browser activities.
