Facebook slams Apple's new privacy measures in full-page newspaper ads

By Stephen Warwick
published

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What you need to know

  • Facebook has run a series of full-page newspaper ads attacking planned changes to iOS 14 that will make it harder to track users.
  • Facebook says that the move will be "devastating" to small businesses.

Facebook has launched a scathing attack on Apple in a series of full-page newspaper ads over plans to make it harder to track users and increase privacy in iOS 14.

From Bloomberg:

Facebook Inc. attacked Apple Inc. in a series of full-page newspaper ads Wednesday, claiming the iPhone maker's anticipated mobile software changes around data gathering and targeted advertising are bad for small businesses.The ads, slated to run in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, carry the headline "We're standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere." They home in on upcoming changes to Apple's iOS 14 operating system that will curb the ability of companies like Facebook to gather data about mobile users and ply them with advertising.

As the report notes, in a Facebook investor call earlier this year, the company warned that planned changes to iOS 14 would lead to "significant headwinds" as most of its advertising customers are small businesses.

In an ongoing and very public spat between the two companies, Apple has previously stated Facebook has shown "disregard for user privacy". According to figures cited by Facebook, the new measures will be "devastating to small businesses".

Not everyone is turned off by the move, Firefox developer Mozilla recently came out in full support of measures, calling on its users to petition Apple to implement the changes as soon as possible, calling them "a huge win for consumers."

Brand new App Store nutrition labels for privacy recently revealed the staggering amount of data Facebook holds on its users, a list of data points on the App Store runs to more than 650 words. You can read the full story here.

Stephen Warwick
Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple.

6 Comments
  • Zuckerberg's unhappiness is just making everyone happier.
  • > "We're standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere." How “Small Business” Rhetoric Is Used to Protect Corporate America https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-111-how-small-business-rhe... "The rhetoric forces the evocation of a wholesome image of a Mom-and-Pop candy store in Appleton, Wisconsin, in order to push for laws that will ultimately benefit hedge funds, Dupont and Koch Industries, and a murderers row of polluters and worker abusers."
  • "We're standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere." Uh huh. Right. Because Facebook is the epitome of a small business. 🙄 As always, if Facebook is against it, it must be good for privacy.
  • Their argument isn't that it's hurting them, per se, but that it's hurting small businesses that ostensibly rely on Facebook's surveillance capitalism for their very survival. While it's true that FB has provided opportunities for many small businesses, this is all a smokescreen to divert attention from their sociopathic business practices. Thank goodness that most people now realize what hypocrites they are and how harmful their platform is to society.
  • I am very happy that Apple is finally taking FaceBook by the horns. FB has become a little too big for its boots and I strongly believe that end users have the right to keep their lives private - not make it a big show on the likes of FaceBook. Now, if FaceBook will come clean about why they have permanently blocked so many user accounts with absolutely no explanation whatever, maybe, they can justify their rant against Apple ... but then again ... its Apple = 1, FaceBook = 0
  • Thank you Apple for standing up for our privacy. We switched from android to Apple this year and we couldn’t be happier.