Facebook and Apple have started some sort of battle today over the new App Store privacy guidelines announced earlier this year that are now required by all developers. After posting a full-page ad in US newspapers today, Facebook is now planning another similar ad for tomorrow, saying Apple “wants to stop the Internet from becoming free.”
Apple responded to Facebook’s criticism in a statement 9to5Mac arguing that users should have the choice of whether or not to be tracked on the Internet and deserve to know what data third-party apps collect from their devices.
The company said it “doesn’t require Facebook to change its approach to user tracking,” but it also suggested that Facebook should be more transparent about that. Apple’s response appears to have irked Facebook even more, which is now preparing another counter-reaction to the new App Store guidelines.
BuzzFeed News editor John Paczkowski has received a draft of a text that Facebook plans to officially share tomorrow in response to Apple. It says “Apple plans to roll out a forced software update that would change the Internet as we know it for the worse,” and it also claims Apple will hurt small businesses with the App Store rules.
Apple’s change limits their ability to display personalized ads. To make ends meet, they have to charge a subscription fee or add app purchases. Make the Internet much more expensive and reduce free, high-quality content. In addition to harming apps and websites, many in the small business community say this change will be devastating for them too.
It’s unclear whether Facebook will actually run this new ad, but we’ll likely find out in the next few hours. The changes Facebook is referring to are the new App Store privacy labels and also a new option in iOS 14 that prevents apps from tracking users across the web.
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