The social network views Apple’s changes as an attack on personalised advertising
Facebook is again criticising upcoming privacy changes to Apple’s iOS that could uproot ad-tracking features used by apps. The social network on Wednesday ran full-page newspaper ads saying the feature in iOS 14, expected to be released early next year, will hurt small businesses. The company also expanded on its position in a blog post, saying that Apple’s new policy is “more about profit than privacy.”
Apple announced several new privacy updates for iOS at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, including a feature called App Tracking Transparency that would require people to opt in to apps collecting their data rather than needing them to opt out. The update threatens to uproot several ad-tracking features in apps, including Facebook. In September, Apple decided to delay the feature’s rollout to 2021 so developers could have more time to make necessary changes.
Facebook’s criticism of Apple is the latest in an ongoing public fight between two of the world’s largest tech companies. The social network, which has also been under fire for failing to safeguard user privacy, views Apple’s changes as an attack on personalised advertising. Facebook makes most of its money from ads, which allows it to avoid charging people a subscription fee to use the social network.
Facebook has previously said the iOS update would mean less profit for advertisers because of less effective tracking.
In the ads on Wednesday, Facebook says: While limiting how personalised ads can be used does impact larger companies like us, these changes will be devastating to small businesses.
Apple has defended the tracking changes, saying they give users more control. In a public letter last month, Jane Horvath, the company’s privacy chief, called out Facebook for its data collection practices and said Apple remains “fully committed” to its app tracking transparency feature and other privacy protections.
Facebook executives have made clear their intent is to collect as much data as possible across both first and third party products to develop and monetise detailed profiles of their users, and this disregard for user privacy continues to expand to include more of their products, Horvath wrote.