23 December 2020, Kathmandu
Apple had recently announced a new iOS 14 privacy-based feature that sent chills down advertisement agencies’ spine. A new iOS 14 feature was introduced called AppTracking Transparency that makes useless the specific identification of ads.
Facebook, a social media giant, recently published in newspaper publicity, criticizes Apple for destroying the free internet with a new privacy feature in iOS 14. The developer would have to seek approval from Apple’s new Data Protection Policy before monitoring users for personal ads. Facebook thinks this switch to “demand authority” before monitoring users will seriously impact the ad networks and attract new customers challenging for small companies.
While Facebook has slammed Apple’s planned changes, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has now come out on Apple’s side, saying Facebook’s criticisms are “laughable.”
“Facebook has recently launched a campaign touting itself as the protector of small businesses. This is a laughable attempt from Facebook to distract you from its poor track record of anticompetitive behavior and privacy issues as it tries to derail pro-privacy changes from Apple that are bad for Facebook’s business,” said the EFF blog post.
Apple will be launching the new AppTracking Transparency feature in 2021, which requires users to track users across other applications and sites before they do so. The function was originally scheduled for iOS 14 this fall, but Apple postponed the implementation until the beginning of 2021 to allow developers more time to prepare.
As the App Tracking Transparency feature approaches, Facebook has taken up a public PR battle with Apple. The new reforms, Facebook claims, would hurt small businesses and impact the ability of corporations to attract new customers. Apple, on the other hand, says that the feature will not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users, instead only to seek permission.
With this update on iOS 14, Apple is changing its privacy policies to make things more transparent. One of the biggest privacy changes is worrying developers.
In conclusion, before an app can track you, it has to ask for permission. It goes without saying that there will be very few users who will actually allow apps to track them and their information online. The biggest takeaway from this feud is that Google has surprisingly stayed silent all along.
