Apple destroys Facebook after groups lament app privacy delay

Earlier this year, human rights and privacy groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Human Rights Watch wrote to Apple., asking why this was delaying the introduction of a feature that would force apps to receive explicit acceptance from iPhone users before tracking them. Apple rsponded, according to Bloomberg, with a letter slamming facebook.

Apple rolled out the privacy enhancement feature in iOS 14 in September but has not yet made it mandatory for developers. The groups wrote in a letter to the tech giant, saying the delay was misguided in the “critical weeks leading up to and following the 2020 US election, when people’s data can be used to target them with personalized political ads. .

In the letter, Apple Global Head of Privacy, Jane Horvath, responded to the groups by destroying Facebook and its business model.

“Too often, information is collected about you on a company-owned app or website and combined with information collected separately by other companies for targeted advertising and advertising measures,” Apple wrote. “Sometimes your data is even aggregated and resold by data brokers, which are third parties you don’t know and don’t interact with. Tracking can be invasive, even frightening, and more often than not, it takes place without the user being aware or consenting. “

Apple has touted the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature as part of its overall commitment to privacy, specifically naming Facebook:

In contrast, Facebook and others take a very different approach to targeting. Not only do they allow users to be grouped into smaller segments, but they use detailed data about online browsing activity to target ads. Facebook executives have made it clear that their intention is to collect as much data as possible on proprietary and third-party products to develop and monetize their users’ detailed profiles, and this disregard for user privacy continues to expand. to include more of their products.

Horvath also said that Facebook could have been partly responsible for the delay in deploying ATT, telling Bloomberg that the expanded schedule “would give developers the time they have indicated they need to properly update their systems and practices by data matters ”.

The ATT feature is a major change for app developers and requires users to verify that they want to share usage data. It also limits apps’ access to several unique identifiers that can be used to track a user, affecting their ability to monitor post-install actions, target ads, or create patterns of user behavior. VentureBeat wrote in September only if “10 to 30% of iOS users currently limit ad personalization, and up to 15% currently use limited ad tracking to turn off their [Identifier for Advertisers], “Up to 80% are supposed to hit no at the ATT prompt.

Facebook hit back in a report to Ars Technica and other outlets that it’s not about privacy at all – it’s about locking down iOS with anti-competitive tactics to give Apple’s internal deals and an unfair advantage. This is right, because Apple is currently facing antitrust complaints the advertising industry via the iOS 14 update, as well as companies such as Spotify, Telegram, and Epic Games. The Judicial Chamber’s Antitrust Subcommittee recently found than Apple’s mandatory requirement that application developers use its payment platform is anti-competitive, as is the way restricted API, modify search rankings and sets default applications. The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice would be reviewing Apple with other big tech companies, including google, if details about the Apple probe stay vague.

“The truth is that Apple has extended its business to advertising and, with its upcoming iOS 14 changes, is trying to move the free Internet to paid apps and services that they take advantage of,” Facebook told Ars Technica. “As a result, they use their dominant market position to themselves prefer their own data collection while making it nearly impossible for their competitors to use the same data. They claim it’s about confidentiality, but it’s about profit. “

This feud has been going on for some time. In August, Facebook warned that the iOS update could cut publisher revenue through its Audience Network by up to 50%.. That month, Facebook also said it was forced to remove the version of Facebook Gaming available through the App Store due to TOS restrictions.

“Unfortunately, we had to remove the gaming functionality entirely in order to get Apple’s approval on the standalone Facebook Gaming app, which means iOS users have a lower experience than those using Android,” wrote operations director Sheryl Sandberg. in a report.