- Facebook starts asking users for permission to track their data so it can target them with ads.
- The move comes as Apple prepares to roll out a privacy update that will force developers to ask users’ permission to follow them.
- Apple and Facebook have been arguing about the upcoming iOS privacy update.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
Facebook is trying to outstrip Apple in a privacy battle that has been raging for six months.
Facebook announced on Monday that it would send a pop-up notification to iOS users, asking for permission to track their activity so they can be targeted with ads.
The popup tells users that allowing trackers means they “get more personalized ads” and “support businesses that rely on ads to reach customers”.
The popup looks like this.
Facebook
Facebook is only testing the popup on a few users for now, but it will eventually arrive to all iOS users pending an update that Apple said would roll out in early spring.
The Apple update will force app developers to request users’ consent to collect their data for targeted advertising. Apple has not confirmed a date, but Insider previously reported that it is aiming for March.
Read more: Apple reported record sales of $ 111.4 billion. From $ 14.8 million to $ 26.3 million, here’s how the company paid its executives in 2020.
The update was announced in the summer and was originally scheduled for September 2020, but Apple delayed the rollout after Facebook protested, saying the update would undermine developers’ ad revenue.
Apple and Facebook have publicly argued over the update, with Facebook claiming that Apple is preparing itself to get into the advertising industry, while Apple alleging that Facebook does not respect the privacy of its users.
The rivalry has heated up again in the past week. In an earnings call, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that Apple is becoming one of Facebook’s “biggest competitors,” and accused it of using privacy as a cover to express competition.
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook responded with a thinly veiled criticism of Facebook during a speech at a data privacy conference the following day.
The information also reported that Facebook is preparing to file an antitrust suit against Apple.