Tim Cook Responds to Facebook Criticism of iOS App Tracking Transparency Changes, Says It's 'Hard To Argue Against' Privacy
In a preview of an interview with The New York Times' Kara Swisher, set to be published on Monday, April 5, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he's "shocked" at the criticism Apple has received in recent months over upcoming privacy changes in iOS, and claimed that they're "hard to argue against."
Apple plans to begin enforcing App Tracking Transparency (ATT) changes following the release of iOS 14.5, meaning all apps that access an iPhone's ad identifier, or IDFA, will need to ask a user's permission before tracking is allowed.
The move has provoked criticism from some companies, particularly Facebook, which argues that the new changes will hurt small businesses.
Facebook says that small businesses rely on tracking to provide personalized ads and that with ATT, those ads will be less effective. However, when asked in the interview how ATT will impact Facebook, Cook said he's "not focused on Facebook" and that he doesn't know.
Swisher asked: "What is your response to Facebook's response — which is quite vehement — calling you essentially an existential crisis to their business?" Cook answered: " All we're doing, Kara, is giving the user the choice whether to be tracked or not. And I think it's hard to argue against that. I've been — I've been shocked that there's been pushback on this to this degree."
Facebook initially went all out against ATT; however, the company has recently shifted its tone. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg now claims it's possible that the new change may benefit Facebook by giving it an upper hand in the online commerce space.
It's possible that we may even be in a stronger position if Apple's changes encourage more businesses to conduct more commerce on our platforms by making it harder for them to use their data in order to find the customers that would want to use their products outside of our platforms.
Cook's latest comments are just a snippet of the full interview set to be published on Monday in which the CEO discusses the removal of Parler from the App Store, the power of Big Tech, and what it's like being called "Tim Apple."
Top Stories
Apple has responded to Facebook's criticism over an upcoming iOS 14 privacy measure — specifically a change that will require users to grant permission for their activity to be tracked for personalized advertising purposes starting early next year.
In a statement provided to MacRumors, Apple said "we believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users," adding that "users...
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's own personal information was among the details of 533 million Facebook users that leaked in a data breach, it has emerged.
Facebook has now confirmed that the leaked data was obtained not by a hack, but by scraping the platform prior to September 2019. The company now says that an exploit was found in its contact importer, but the "specific issue that allowed...
Facebook today shared its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2020, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's opening remarks were focused on Apple's upcoming anti-tracking privacy changes that will impact the advertising industry and companies like Facebook that rely heavily on online advertising.
As highlighted by The Washington Post, Zuckerberg claimed that Apple is changing its privacy policy...
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times' Kara Swisher, on her podcast "Sway," Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about Apple's feud with Facebook, its stance on privacy, Apple's legal battle with Epic Games, and possible future Apple innovations such as Apple Glasses.
Apple is in the midst of a heated public spat with Facebook over privacy, particularly over an upcoming feature on iOS that ...
Apple CEO Tim Cook and Malala Yousafzai recently sat down for an interview as part of British Vogue's Conversation series, where the two talked about life after COVID, Yousafzai's and Apple's activism, the importance of education and learning to code, and more.
Apple has partnered with the Malala Fund to support girls' education, helping the organization by assisting with technology,...
Following an app update, Twitter today began asking users to enable ad tracking under Apple's App Tracking Transparency rules.
After updating to version 8.65, which adds Spaces support, Twitter users will begin seeing a popup that asks them to "keep ads relevant" by allowing Twitter to track data from other companies like apps used and websites visited.
Tapping "Continue" on the popup...
Despite campaigning heavily against Apple's upcoming anti-tracking rules, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today said that Facebook will "be in a good position" when Apple begins enforcing App Tracking Transparency and could even benefit from the changes.
"It's possible that we may even be in a stronger position if Apple's changes encourage more businesses to conduct more commerce on our...
Facebook's recent criticism directed at Apple over an upcoming tracking-related privacy measure is "laughable," according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit organization that defends civil liberties in the digital world.
Facebook has claimed that Apple's new opt-in tracking policy will hurt small businesses who benefit from personalized advertising, but the EFF...
Facebook today announced its earnings for the first calendar quarter of 2021, and during the call discussing the results, Facebook executives confirmed that Apple's App Tracking Transparency will have a "manageable" impact on Facebook's business starting in the second quarter.
As highlighted by ZDNet, Facebook CFO Dave Wehner said that Facebook is expecting "increased ad targeting headwinds...
Facebook and Apple are squabbling over document requests in the ongoing Epic v. Apple legal battle, according to a new discovery letter filed with the court today. Facebook is involved because Facebook executive Vivek Sharma is set to testify on behalf of Epic.
Apple wants a "limited set of documents" that are needed for a fair cross examination of Sharma, who plans to testify about Apple's...
Top Rated Comments
Don't buy into it people. Facebook is trying so hard to be the good guy here. But they are not.
Sure, it's better now where you are asked when you set up the device and then the same thing happens as before - but I just don't see that as a big deal.
There are aspects of Apple's business I find problematic (usually ones related to using position in one market to get positions in others), but privacy is not one of them.
Facebook cares about small business ? Really ?
[HEADING=2]Facebook’s Data Breaches – A Timeline ('https://selfkey.org/facebooks-data-breaches-a-timeline/')[/HEADING]