Zuckerberg responds to Apple’s privacy policies: “We must inflict pain”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees close to him, “we have to inflict pain” on Apple for comments from Apple CEO Tim Cook, whom Zuckerberg described as “extremely flippant.”

This and other information about an ongoing rift between the two companies appeared in a Wall Street Journal report over the weekend. The article says that based on first-hand reports, Zuckerberg viewed Cook’s and Apple’s public criticisms of Facebook’s privacy policies, whether direct or indirect, as personal affronts.

For example, Cook publicly responded to Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018 by saying such a scandal would never happen to Apple because Apple does not treat its customers like products. When asked what he would do to Zuckerberg’s position, he replied, “I wouldn’t be in this situation”, calling Facebook’s approach “a breach of privacy.” This is one of the comments that led Zuckerberg to view Apple as an adversary.

Prior to that, in 2017, Zuckerberg and Cook met in an attempt to smooth an already embittered relationship, the article said, but the meeting “ended in a tense standoff.” Since then, the relationship has continued to deteriorate.

The disputes took on new significance last year, when Apple announced plans to require iOS apps to ask users for permission to track them with IDFA (ID For Advertisers) tags on apps and websites. The policy change is already reflected in Apple’s terms of service for app developers, but won’t take effect until early spring after the release of iOS 14.5.

Facebook, whose business model and competitive advantage relies on this type of tracking, responded by telling investors to expect revenue to decline and running full-page newspaper ads stating that the change would hurt small businesses.

In addition, Facebook has considered filing a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the smartphone maker’s policies are anti-competitive.

The Wall Street Journal article also notes that Facebook directly aided Epic Games’ battle against Apple in a separate but loosely linked battle over Apple’s hold on its App Store and that Facebook “waged a campaign against Apple “with government officials and antitrust regulators.

Apple has attempted to position itself as a Big Tech company on the privacy side because its business model is not built on tracking like Facebook’s or Google’s.

But there are other dimensions at play as well. Cook and Zuckerberg have both said they see augmented and mixed reality as “the next computing platform,” and Facebook and Apple are on track to compete more directly with their products. in the future.

Facebook has agreed to follow Apple’s rules requiring the user to accept tracking in their iOS apps, but it has been testing ways to anticipate the prompt required by Apple in order to convince users to sign up.

Meanwhile, the two companies are the subject of high-profile lawsuits and investigations alleging anti-competitive behavior, albeit mainly for very different reasons.