Facebook on Wednesday launched a public campaign against changes to privacy policies in Apple’s iOS operating system through ads in major US newspapers, a new website and a blog post.
Under the headline ‘Defending small businesses against Apple’, Facebook posted full-page ads in headlines such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post, accusing the iPhone maker of advocates of ‘devastating small business’ measures.
This move increases the open conflict that both companies have maintained since last spring, when Apple predicts that in its update of the operating system for iPhones iOS 14 will require users to grant explicit permission for applications to access their profile digital.
This profile, called IDFA, identifies each Internet user based on their activities and previous inquiries, which allows advertisers to ‘follow’ users and run advertising campaigns tailored to the tastes and interests of each specific consumer, and in turn, measure the degree of effectiveness of the same.
Facebook, your business relies heavily on online advertising, fiercely opposes the measure, and argues that with its implementation, app developers could lose 50% or more of their public revenue.
In its announcements today, the social red claims that this privacy measure ‘threatens the personalized ads of those given millions of small businesses to reach their customers and criticizes that Apple’s decision has more to do with their benefits than with privacy ‘.
Although Apple’s original idea was to implement this change starting in the fall, in September it postponed its entry into force until ‘early 2021’ to give applications ‘the time to adapt’.
Facebook also accused the bitten apple company of ‘behaving contrary to the competition by using its control of the App Store to profit at the expense of creators and small businesses’, something relevant given that the U.S. Department of Justice keeps an antitrust investigation against Apple open.
At the same time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Facebook on November 9 for alleged anti-competitive practices.