Angela Lang / CNET
Facebook is back criticism of upcoming privacy changes to Apple’s iOS that can uproot ad-tracking features used by apps. The social network ran full-page newspaper ads on Wednesday saying the feature in iOS 14, which is expected to be released early next year, will hurt small businesses. The company also expanded its position in a blog post, saying Apple’s new policy is “more about profit than privacy.”
Apple announced several new privacy updates for iOS at the Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, including a feature called App Tracking Transparency, which would require people to sign up for apps that collect their data rather than 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 would have more time to make the necessary changes.
Facebook’s criticism of Apple is the latest in an ongoing public battle between two of the world’s largest technology companies. The social network, which is also under fire for failing to protect user privacy, sees Apple’s changes as an attack on personalized ads. Facebook makes most of its money from advertising, which eliminates the need to charge people a subscription fee to use the social network.
Facebook previously said the iOS update would mean less profit for advertisers due to less effective tracking. In the ads on Wednesday, Facebook says, “While limiting the way personalized ads can be used affects larger businesses like us, these changes will be devastating for small businesses.”
Apple has defended the tracking changes and says they give users more control. In a public letter last month, Jane Horvath, the company’s chief of privacy, called on 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 it clear that their intention is to collect as much data as possible about both first and third party products in order to develop and monetize detailed profiles of their users, and this disregard for user privacy. growing and encompassing more of their products. ” Horvath wrote.
Dan Levy, who oversees advertising and business products, said in a press appeal Wednesday that Apple “was acting in an anti-competitive fashion by using their control over the App Store to use their profits at the expense of creators and small businesses.” If services turn away from ads and charge subscription fees or in-app payments, Apple benefits because the company makes money from fees charged to developers, Levy said.
The impact on Facebook’s business will be “less serious” because the company has a diverse advertising business with more than 10 million advertisers. Compared to small businesses, he said, Facebook “will be fine”.
“This isn’t just a technical battle over different types of technology and policies,” said Levy. “This is a series of changes and a start to what we believe is a long strategic step for Apple to fundamentally change the way free Internet and advertising works for small businesses.”
Steve Satterfield, a privacy and public policy director at Facebook, also said during the press call that it will also support Epic games, the company behind the popular video game Fortnite, which filed a lawsuit against Apple earlier this year for claiming that the iPhone maker engaged in anti-competitive practices by demanding up to 30% off app sales on the iPhone and iPad. Epic Games also sued Google and Fortnite was removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
“We are willing to provide relevant information in their disputes about how Apple’s policies harm the millions of people and businesses who use our services,” said Satterfield.
Epic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Facebook ads criticizing Apple previously reported by Bloomberg appeared in newspapers such as The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
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Facebook Braces For Apple’s Privacy Changes, Fall Guys …
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