Apple has officially responded to Facebook’s claims about its iOS 14 privacy policy update. It has offered a statement to The Verge mentioning that these changes have been made as a matter of standing up for its users. These changes will give iOS users the freedom to choose whether to share data with apps and allow tracking.
Apple responds to Facebook ad criticizing iOS 14
These new iOS privacy policies were announced earlier this year and supposed to go live with the iOS 14 release. Apple recently decided to delay the implementation until the early next year. The idea of the policy change is to make users aware of all the data collection and tracking that an app is seeking. It will be compulsory for app developers to show these details in the app listing and failing to do so could lead to app deletion from the App Store.
Despite there still being time for the implementation, Facebook has been vocal about expressing its dissatisfaction. It ran full-page ads in newspapers a couple of days ago and claimed that it is standing up for small businesses everywhere. It says that gathering and tracking user data help it serve personalized ads which in turn help small businesses generate sales and earn money. If Apple were to go ahead with the new privacy policy, many users would opt out of letting Facebook track them, and as a result, small businesses’ revenue will take a hit.
It seems like Apple and Facebook’s dispute on privacy policy is not going to stop anytime soon. There should be a response from the social networking giant but we will keep you updated.