Facebook Calls Apple Out for “Hurting Small Businesses” With New iOS 14 Policy
“We disagree with Apple’s approach, yet we have no choice but to show their prompt.”
Responding to upcoming iOS 14 privacy policy changes, Facebook is publicly criticizing Apple for “hurting small businesses.” The social networking company has published a statement in ads inside major publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.
First announced in June 2020, the new policy dubbed AppTracking Transparency will require apps to ask iOS 14 users for permission to gather data for ads. The update has been held off until early next year for now, but will severely impact content creators, entrepreneurs and small businesses as users are more likely to opt out of data tracking. With this change, developers who create free apps will be hit as they depend heavily on advertising for sustenance. According to Facebook, charging users with subscriptions or in-app payments will benefit Apple with the 15 to 30 percent “Apple tax,” as well as the tech giant’s advertising business.
Responding to the issue, Facebook shared: “We disagree with Apple’s approach and solution, yet we have no choice but to show Apple’s prompt. If we don’t, they will block Facebook from the App Store, which would only further harm the people and businesses that rely on our services.” The platform has also announced that it is working with various organizations to protect people’s privacy in a way that can keep the content free of charge, enabling small businesses to grow.
You can head over to Facebook’s blog post to learn more about Apple’s AppTracking Transparency update.
