Apple Responds to Privacy Critics, Facebook Prepares Antitrust Lawsuit

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at the CPDP data protection conference. In his statement, he criticized apps and platforms that he believes collect too much user data and contribute to misinformation. Earlier, the head of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, called Apple one of the main competitors of the social network.

Cook did not name specific companies in his speech. He stated that he did not approve of platforms supporting “conspiracy theories and incitement to violence for audience engagement.”

“In a time of widespread misinformation and conspiracy theories, we cannot turn a blind eye to technology theory, which says that any interaction is a good interaction, the longer the better, and all with the aim of collecting as much data as possible,” Cook said.

He also criticized towards platforms that he believes encourage entry into extremist communities and support vaccine distrust. Cook believes that the end result of this approach to technology is a polarization of society and a loss of trust, and stresses that “the social dilemma should not be allowed to turn into a social catastrophe.” He also criticized the overly active, in his opinion, collection of personal data from users, and explained which technologies should be considered ethical.

“We believe ethical technologies are technologies that work for you. These are technologies that help you, not let you sleep. It’s a technology that will fade into the background when you go hiking or swimming, but will alert you when your heart rate is high or help you when you fall. And at the same time, privacy and security should always come first, because no one can give up user rights to create a great product. ”

The day before, during a teleconference on Facebook income, the head of the social network Mark Zuckerberg characterized Apple as one of the main competitors of Facebook and stated that Apple is promoting its messenger bypassing fair competition.

According to Zuckerberg, Apple has many incentives to exploit its dominant position on the platform, and the corporation “interferes with the applications of Facebook and other companies, preferring their own.”

Zuckerberg cited iMessage as an example. He pointed out that it is the most used messenger in the United States for the reason that it is preinstalled on all iPhones. According to Zuckerberg, Apple’s behavior affects the operation of “millions of businesses around the world.”

Tensions between Apple and Facebook have been building in recent months. Today it became known that Facebook may be preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple regarding transparency new privacy rules in iOS 14 due to take effect in the spring. As a result of the changes, app developers will be required to ask users for permission to track and use their IDFAs for ad targeting. Facebook, which makes most of its money from ads, views Apple’s change as a threat to personalized ads.

how writes The Information, a potential lawsuit by the social network is likely to indicate that Apple is forcing external developers to adhere to rules that its own applications are not required to follow. As the publication points out, citing its own sources in the company, Facebook may ultimately refuse to file a claim.

Facebook has not confirmed plans to file a lawsuit, but has expressed its position on Apple’s power over the App Store in comments for CNet.

“As we have stated on numerous occasions, we believe that Apple is behaving anticompetitively, using its control over the App Store to profit from app developers and small businesses,” a company spokesman said.