Facebook slams iOS privacy changes in full-page newspaper ads – CNET [CNET]

Facebook is again criticizing upcoming privacy changes to Apple’s iOS that could uproot ad-tracking features used by apps. The social network on Wednesday ran full-page newspaper ads saying the feature in iOS 14, expected to be released early next year, will hurt small businesses. The company also expanded on its position in a blog post, saying that Apple’s new policy is “more about profit than privacy.” 

Apple announced several new privacy updates for iOS at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this year, including a feature called App Tracking Transparency that would require people to opt in to apps collecting their data rather than needing them to opt out. The update threatens to uproot several ad-tracking features in apps, including Facebook. In September, Apple decided to delay the feature’s rollout to 2021 so developers could have more time to make necessary changes. 

Facebook has previously said that the iOS update would mean less profit for advertisers because of less effective tracking. In the ads on Wednesday, Facebook says: “While limiting how personalized ads can be used does impact larger companies like us, these changes will be devastating to small businesses.”

Apple has defended the tracking changes, saying they give users more control. In a public letter last month, Jane Horvath, the company’s privacy chief, called out Facebook for its data collection practices and said Apple remains “fully committed” to its app tracking transparency feature and other privacy protections.

“Facebook executives have made clear their intent is to collect as much data as possible across both first and third party products to develop and monetize detailed profiles of their users, and this disregard for user privacy continues to expand to include more of their products,” Horvath wrote. 

In a blog post on Wednesday, Facebook executive Dan Levy accused Apple of “behaving anti-competitively by using their control of the App Store to benefit their bottom line at the expense of app developers and small businesses.”  

The ads, which were earlier reported by Bloomberg, appeared in newspapers including The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.