In a statement shared with The Verge, Apple has responded to Facebook’s criticisms of its upcoming privacy changes by saying that it is “standing up for our users.” Ahead of a forthcoming iOS upgrade that would ask users to give their consent for applications to gather information about them, Facebook has criticized the firm. Today Facebook released full-page newspaper advertising targeting Apple, alleging that the amendments would hinder the ability of firms to run targeted commercials and access their consumers effectively.
According to Apple’s statement, this is a clear matter of standing up for their users, they say. Users should be aware of the processing and distribution of their information through other applications and websites, and they should have the ability to accept it or not. Transparency data monitoring in iOS 14 does not require Facebook to adjust its approach to device tracking and targeted ads, it merely allows users to choose.
According to BuzzFeed News editor John Paczkowski, the announcement from Apple comes as Facebook allegedly plans to air another anti-Apple ad on Friday. This new ad would supposedly say that the software upgrade from Apple would “change the internet as we know it for the worse” because websites such as blogs and cooking pages would have to charge for subscriptions or in-app transactions instead of running targeted advertising that will enable them to provide free content.
Apps will not be expected to seek approval from users until early next year at some point. The move has already been deferred once; this fall, it was initially expected to kick in with the introduction of iOS 14.
The spat between the two firms comes on the heels of Apple adding new privacy labels from the App Store that set out how your data is used by iOS users.
