Apple and Facebook square off in privacy debate

Smartphone apps contain too many trackers, says Apple CEO Tim Cook, and in the future app developers will have to ask users permission to track them across apps in order to create targeted ads; it’s a move that’s likely to hit Facebook’s advertising revenues.

Who says what? 

• With the imminent launch of a new App Tracking Transparency feature, which requires users to opt in and swipe at ad-based social networks, Apple has made clear where it stands on the issue of the use of personal data. 
• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has suggested that Apple’s iMessage offers weaker privacy than Facebook’s WhatsApp and that Apple uses its dominant position to preference their own apps above those of others.
• Facebook is reported to be planning an antitrust lawsuit against Apple for breaking US law by requiring independent app developers to follow rules that Apple itself doesn’t have to.

Key quote

“Technology does not need vast troves of personal data, stitched together across dozens of websites and apps, in order to succeed. Advertising existed and thrived for decades without it. We’re here today because the path of least resistance is rarely the path of wisdom,” – Tim Cook, Apple CEO.