IOS escalates conflict with Facebook over the moment over privacy changes

Facebook is back Criticize upcoming privacy changes Apple’s IOS Which can root out ad-tracking features used by applications. The social network on Wednesday, running full-page newspaper ads, says the feature in iOS 14, which is expected to be released early next year, will hurt small businesses. The company also elaborated on its position in a blog post, saying that Apple’s new policy is “more about profit than privacy.”

Apple Play announced several new privacy updates for iOS at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, including a feature called App Tracking Transparency, in which people will no longer have to opt for apps to collect their data. The update threatens to push many ad-tracking features into applications, including Facebook. In September, Apple decided to delay the rollout of the Play feature until 2021 to give developers more time to make the necessary changes.

Apple’s criticism of Facebook is the latest in a series of public battles between the world’s two largest tech companies. The social network, which is under fire for failing to protect user privacy, sees Apple’s changes as an attack on personalized advertising. Facebook makes most of its money from advertising, which avoids charging people a subscription fee for using the social network.

Facebook had previously said that the iOS update would mean less profit for advertisers due to less effective tracking. In an ad it received Wednesday, Facebook says: “Limiting how personalized ads can be used affects large companies like ours, and these changes will be disastrous for small businesses.”

Apple Play has defended the tracking changes, saying they give users more control. In a public letter last month, the company’s privacy chief, Jane Horvath, called on Facebook for its data collection methods and said Apple was “fully committed” to its app tracking transparency feature and other privacy protections.

“Facebook executives have made it clear that they aim to collect as much data as possible in both first and third party products to develop and monetize their users’ detailed profiles and that this violation of user privacy continues to expand to include more of their products, ”Horwath wrote.

Dan Levy, who oversees advertising and commercial products, said in a press call on Wednesday that Apple is behaving competitively by using control of the App Store to benefit its bottom line at the expense of Paul creators and small businesses. If the services move away from advertising and start charging subscription fees or payments in-app, Apple benefits because the company makes money from the fees charged to developers, Levy said.

The impact on Facebook’s business will be “less intense” as the company has a diverse advertising business with over one million advertisers. Compared to small businesses, he said, Facebook would be “good.”

“It’s not just a technical battle over the different parts of technology and policy,” Levy said. We are just beginning. “

Steve Sutterfield, Facebook’s director of privacy and public policy, also said in a press call that he would support Epic Games, The company behind the popular video game Fortnite, which earlier this year sued Apple Pal, an iPhone maker engaged in anti-rival transactions, demanding a 30% cut in app sales on the iPhone and iPad. Epic Games also sued Google and Fortnight was removed from Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store.

“We are prepared to provide relevant information in their lawsuit about how Apple’s policies harm the millions of people and businesses that use our services,” Sutterfield said.

Epic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Facebook ads criticizing Apple Paul, previously reported by Bloomberg, appeared in newspapers including The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.