SAN RAMON, California. Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday fired a series of veiled shots at Facebook and other social media companies, stepping up an online privacy battle pitting the iPhone maker against digital services that rely on tracking people for help sell ads.
“There are too many people still asking the question“ with what can we get out? “when should we ask ourselves, what are the consequences?” Cook said. “What are the consequences of not just tolerating 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? “
At a virtually held international conference on computing, privacy and data protection, Cook said “it’s time to stop pretending that this approach comes at no cost: polarization, lost trust and yes, violence.”
Cook never specifically named Facebook FB,
or any other company. But his statements left little doubt that his missives were aimed at social media sites that have been criticized for allowing conspiracy theories, hate speech and political misinformation that culminated in the January 6 uprising that went on. overcoming the U.S. Capitol while Congress met to confirm the election. of President Joe Biden.
“A social dilemma cannot be allowed to turn into a social catastrophe,” Cook added, referring to a Netflix documentary about the corrosive effects of technology (and especially social media) on society. That film focused on Facebook and how its algorithms manipulate its nearly 3 billion users to get them to see the ads that generate the most revenue.
Cook’s point of view came as Apple AAPL,
is preparing to launch a new privacy check in early spring to prevent iPhone apps from overshadowing people in secret. This puts the feature on the verge of coming out after a delay of more than six months with the goal of getting Facebook and other digital services that rely on this data monitoring to help sell ads.
Although Apple did not provide a specific date, the general schedule released Thursday means that the long-awaited safeguard known as Transparency App Tracking will be part of an iPhone software update that will arrive in late March. or sometime in April.
After delaying the scheduled presentation for September of protection amid a Facebook-led outcry, Apple had already said it would come out earlier this year. Apple released the latest schedule update as part of Data Privacy Day.
Apple has been putting up with giving Facebook and other app makers more time to adapt to a feature that will require iPhone users for their explicit consent for tracking. Analysts expect a significant number of users to deny this permission once they have to agree. Currently, iPhone users frequently track the applications they install unless they take the extra step of accessing the iPhone settings to avoid it.
“Technology doesn’t need large amounts of personal data, combined with dozens of websites and apps, to be successful,” Cook said. “Advertising existed and thrived for decades without it.”
As a complement to Cook’s observations, Apple also released an 11-page report to illustrate how much apps can learn about their users in daily life.
Facebook intensified attacks on Apple’s new privacy control last month in a series of full-page ads in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other national newspapers. That campaign suggested that some free digital services will shrink if they can’t compile personal information to personalize ads. On Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg questioned Apple’s reasons for the changes, saying the iPhone maker “has every incentive” to use its own mobile platform to interfere with rivals in its own app. of messaging.
“Apple may say it does it to help people, but the moves clearly follow its competitive interests,” Zuckerberg said.
Alphabet GOOGL,
GOOG,
Google, which also relies on personal data to power the Internet’s largest advertising network, has not joined Facebook in its criticism of Apple’s upcoming monitoring controls. Google takes advantage of being the default search engine for the iPhone, a precious position for which it pays Apple between $ 9 billion and $ 12 billion annually.
But Google warned in a blog post on Wednesday that Apple’s new controls will have a significant impact on iPhone’s advertising revenue from other applications on its digital network. Google said a “handful” of its own iPhone apps will be affected by the new requirement, but plans to make changes to it so they won’t be affected by Apple’s new controls. No applications were identified.
“We remain committed to preserving a vibrant and open application ecosystem where people can access a wide range of advertising content with the confidence that their privacy and choices are respected,” wrote Christophe Combette, head Google Ads Group product list.