CEO Tim Cook responds to Facebook's ad criticising Apple

Apple, earlier this week, introduced the glanceable app privacy labels of all applications on the App Store. It is now mandatory for developers and service companies to reveal what and how much user information the app is collecting from the phones.

Also, the Cupertino-based company is slated to bring App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature to all its devices via a software update in early 2021. This will give users to block all permission for apps to track their private details.

This move is expected to have a huge impact on technology majors such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and others who generate billions in revenue from targeted ads, which by the way is sent by tracking user behaviour on the phone.

Sensing the inevitable launch of ATT on Apple devices, Facebook for the past couple of days has been publishing full-page ads on reputed dailies including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and The Washington Post in the US.

Mark Zuckerberg-owned company is critical of Apple's moves and says that ATT would harm the small app companies which offer free services, as they lose out on revenue from ads. To sustain the business, they will have no choice but to ask consumers for subscription fees. This way, both the customer and the enterprise are affected.

Now, Apple CEO Tim Cook has come out with a counter-argument on Twitter. Cook says consumers have the right to know what personal data the app is accessing and then decide whether to grant permission or not.

We believe users should have the choice over the data that is being collected about them and how it’s used. Facebook can continue to track users across apps and websites as before, App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 will just require that they ask for your permission first. pic.twitter.com/UnnAONZ61I

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 17, 2020

Must read | Apple launches easy-to-understand privacy labels for all apps

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