Apple CEO Cook blasts rivals ahead of privacy update
Facebook says move is more about competition than helping user privacy
SAN RAMON, CALIF.—Apple CEO Tim Cook lambasted social media companies, though without naming them, accusing them of prioritizing user attention and data collection at the cost of allowing and even rewarding dangerous conspiracies, extremism and polarization.
“Too many are still asking the question ‘How much can we get away with?’ when we should be asking ‘What are the consequences?’ What are the consequences of not just tolerating but rewarding content that undermines public trust in lifesaving vaccinations? What are the consequences of seeing thousands of users join extremist groups and then perpetuating an algorithm that recommends more?” he said.
Speaking at a virtually held International Conference on Computers, Privacy and Data Protection on Thursday, Cook said it’s “time to stop pretending that this approach doesn’t come with a cost” — of polarization, lost trust and, “yes, of violence.”
Apple is getting ready to to roll out a new privacy control in the early spring to prevent iPhone apps from secretly shadowing people.
Although Apple didn’t provide a specific date, the general timetable disclosed Thursday means the long-awaited safeguard known as App Tracking Transparency will be part of an iPhone software update likely to arrive in late March or some point in April.
Apple has been holding off to give Facebook and other app makers more time to adjust to the feature that will require iPhone users to give their explicit consent to being tracked. Analysts expect a significant number of users to deny that permission once it requires their assent. Currently, iPhone users are frequently tracked by apps they install unless they take the extra step of going into iPhone settings to prevent it.
Facebook stepped up its 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 newspapers. That campaign suggested some free digital services will be hobbled if they can’t compile personal information to customize ads.
On Wednesday, Faecbook CEO Mark Zuckerberg questioned Apple’s motives about the changes, saying the iPhone maker “has every incentive” to use its own mobile platform to interfere with rivals to its own messaging app.
“Apple may say that they are doing this to help people, but the moves clearly track their competitive interests,” Zuckerberg said.
Google, which also relies on personal data to power the internet’s biggest ad network, hasn’t joined Facebook in its criticism of Apple’s forthcoming controls on tracking.
But Google warned in a Wednesday blog post that Apple’s new controls will have a significant impact on the
iPhone ad revenue of other apps in 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 them so they won’t be affected by Apple’s new controls. It did not identify which apps.