Why is Facebook so mad at Apple from last few weeks?
Here’s the thing. Facebook and Apple are at war. And many people are confused and frankly, most people have no idea why. These are the names we use daily in our lives. Like,
“Hey, you texted me on Facebook yesterday? Sorry I couldn’t reply. My iPhone just ran out of battery and I fell asleep by the time it was up and running.”
Such a conversation happens very regularly among many people. And these 2 tech giants frowning at each other is not so good given the fact millions of people use them daily. And some of them run their homes using them.
Now, all of this started in April when leaks of a new privacy feature from Apple in iOS 14 appeared in different articles. The new feature every tech enthusiast was talking about is ‘App Tracking Controls and Transparency’. Basically, it is a feature which requires users to allow apps (and developers) to access certain information from them. For example, one will need to give access to Instagram to use the Camera and Microphone. But what if a calculator wants to access your camera? Now that is suspicious, right?
This is exactly the stuff Apple wants to avoid. Users download some application from App Store, and later that very app tracks private data which the user does not want to disclose and maybe uploads it to their server where unknown people might access it. Imagine if a calculator listens to everything you say and later uploads it on the internet without you even knowing this is happening. This is a very scary situation and Apple is adding another layer of protection from this happening.
BUT WHY IS FACEBOOK MAD?
As we all know, Facebook’s business model is built on ads and advertising. Small businesses pay Facebook to show ads to other users and Facebook uses the users’ data to show relevant ads to them. To gather this ‘data’ from the user, Facebook goes to such depths that one might find it laughable to be so desperate for data.
With iOS 14.3, app developers are required to provide everything that they are tracking from the user and mention that on their product page. The user will be given ALL the information before he downloads the application. It is up to the user to decide what to give and what not to give.
Even if the user downloads some application which asks for microphone or camera but the usability is good, then the ‘App Tracking and Transparency’ feature comes in. Before starting gathering the data, the app asks the user to give permission to gather the data. It is not like downloaded means given access to track everything. So if one has to use some note-taking app which is excellent in its job but also asks for microphone access, then one can specifically deny the app to access microphone yet continue taking notes and use the application.
According to the official statement given by Apple:
“With iOS 14, iPadOS 14 and tvOS 14, you will need to receive user’s permission through AppTrackingTransparency framework to track them or access their device’s advertising identifier. Tracking refers to the act of linking user or device data collected form your app with user or device data collected from other companies’ apps, websites or offline properties for targeted advertising or advertising measurement purposes. Tracking also refers to sharing user or device data with data brokers.”
I believe this is the beginning of the end of Facebook and their evil data phishing business model. Apple is doing an incredible job of standing against such businesses and protecting users’ privacy.
