Facebook is unhappy with Apple’s new privacy update

In a new iOS update, Apple will now ask users if they want to be tracked by apps like Facebook with a pop-up asking for permission. As you might expect, Facebook isn’t happy about this.  

“Apple may say that they’re doing this to help people, but the moves clearly track their competitive interests,” Mark Zuckerberg said in a 4th quarter earnings call

Apple may say that they’re doing this to help people, but the moves clearly track their competitive interests.

— Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook claims that since they owns Messenger and Whatsapp, Apple is their competitor in the market because of iMessage. 

According to CNET, Dan Levy said, “The iOS change would force some apps to turn to in-app purchases and subscription fees, from which Apple can take a cut of up to 30%.”

Examples show that Apple cares about User Privacy. Safari, for instance, blocks trackers. Additionally, Apple can’t read messages sent in iMessage. 

Each new update that Apple makes brings new features to the iPhone, such as the password protection for Safari, which can notify users if their password has been compromised. 

Facebook has a reputation for tracking user data, which began in  2010 when advertisers abused a privacy loophole to get personal information on Facebook users. Then, in 2018, an advertising company named Cambridge Analytica misused data, and Facebook once again failed to protect their users’ privacy. 

Facebook has had a history of misusing user data, wanting only to profit from their users. Now, with Apple’s new privacy update, Facebook will have a harder time tracking their users. 

It is clear Mark Zuckerburg is unhappy he can’t track people and profit from them. Stealing user data is the reason Facebook is making loads of money (their total revenue was $55.8 billion). Even without stealing user data, it still makes most of its revenue from advertising, with ads making up 90% of their revenue.

At the end of the day, it’s just a meaningless feud that won’t result in much. Facebook will probably find another loophole, which will probably result in another controversy, and Apple will just move on. In the end, this feud will just be another forgotten memory.