In the wake of Facebookâs escalating public complaints about Apple, the consumer electronics giant has fired back at the baseless claims.
âWe believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users,â an Apple statement reads. âUsers should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites—and they should have the choice to allow that or not.â
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Itâs hard to argue with that. But the most damning statement from Apple reveals the true hypocrisy of Facebookâs complaint. Apple isnât actually preventing Facebook from tracking users. Instead, itâs implementing a pop-up in iOS 14 that lets users choose whether Facebook can track them.
âApp Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 does not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users and creating targeted advertising,â Apple explains. âIt simply requires they give users a choice.â
Obviously, I donât always agree with Apple, and I find many of its public statements and presentations to be hyperbolic and self-serving. But in this case, Apple is both correct and right: Giving users the ability to opt-out of privacy-invasive tracking is in everyoneâs best interests. You know, except Facebookâs.
On a related and perhaps not surprising note, Facebook has followed-up its full-page newspaper ads with a new set (seen above) that claim that Apple is preventing it from displaying personalized ads, a move that will âchange the Internet as we know it—for the worse.â The less said about that the better.