SAN RAMON, Calif. – Apple CEO Tim Cook fired a series of veiled shots at Facebook and other social media companies on Thursday, escalating an online privacy battle pitting the iPhone maker against digital services that depend on track people to help sell ads.
“Many are still asking ‘how much can we get away with?’ when should we be asking ‘what are the consequences?’ ”Said Cook. “What are the consequences of not only tolerating, but rewarding content that undermines public confidence in life-saving vaccines? What are the consequences of seeing thousands of users join extremist groups and then perpetuate an algorithm that recommends more? “
Speaking at an international conference on computers, privacy and data protection held virtually, Cook said it was “time to stop pretending that this approach does not come at a cost – of polarization, loss of confidence, but of violence”.
Cook never specifically named Facebook FB,
or any other company. But his comments left little doubt that his missives were aimed at social media sites that were criticized for allowing conspiracy theories, hate speech and political misinformation that culminated in the January 6 uprising that hit the US Capitol while Congress met to confirm the election of President Joe Biden.
“A social dilemma cannot be allowed to become a social catastrophe,” Cook added, referring to a Netflix documentary about the corrosive effects of technology – and especially social media – on society. The film was aimed at Facebook and how its algorithms manipulate its nearly 3 billion users to make them see the ads that generate most of their revenue.
Cook’s attack came as Apple AAPL,
is preparing to launch a new privacy control in early spring to prevent iPhone apps from secretly following people. This puts the ongoing feature to launch after a delay of more than six months in order to placate Facebook and other digital services that rely on such data surveillance to help sell ads.
Although Apple did not provide a specific date, the general timeline released on Thursday means that the long-awaited protection known as App Tracking Transparency will be part of an iPhone software update that is expected to arrive in late March or at some point in April.
After postponing the planned September introduction of the safeguard amid protests led by Facebook, Apple had previously said it would be launched earlier this year. Apple released the latest programming update as part of Data Privacy Day.
Apple is avoiding giving Facebook and other app makers more time to adjust to a feature that will require iPhone users to give explicit consent to be tracked. Analysts expect a significant number of users to deny this permission, since it requires their consent. Currently, iPhone users are often tracked by the apps they install, unless they take the extra step of entering iPhone settings to avoid it.
“Technology doesn’t need a vast collection of personal data, grouped across dozens of websites and apps, to be successful,” said Cook. “Advertising has existed and prospered for decades without it.”
As a supplement to Cook’s remarks, Apple also released an 11-page report to illustrate how much apps can learn about their users in daily life.
Facebook stepped up its attacks on Apple’s new privacy control last month with a series of full-page ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other national newspapers. This campaign suggests that some free digital services will suffer if they cannot compile personal information to personalize ads. On Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg questioned Apple’s motives for the changes, saying the iPhone maker “has every incentive” to use its own mobile platform to interfere with rivals in its own messaging app.
“Apple can say that it is doing this to help people, but the movements clearly track their competitive interests,” said Zuckerberg.
Alphabet GOOGL,
GOOG,
Google, which also relies on personal data to power the Internet’s largest ad network, has not joined Facebook in its criticism of Apple’s upcoming tracking controls. Google profits from being the default search engine on the iPhone, an award-winning position for which it pays Apple about $ 9 billion to $ 12 billion annually.
But Google warned in a blog post on Wednesday that Apple’s new controls will have a significant impact on iPhone ad revenue from other apps on its digital network. Google said that a “handful” of its own iPhone applications will be affected by the new requirement, but plans to make changes to them so they are not affected by Apple’s new controls. Did not identify which applications.
“We remain committed to preserving a vibrant and open app ecosystem, where people can access a wide variety of content with ads, with the confidence that their privacy and choices are respected,” wrote Christophe Combette, product manager at Google Group Ads.