FOLLOW US

For more than a week, tech giants Facebook and Apple are fighting over “the privacy of users."

Facebook attacked Apple’s new privacy policy that "will change the internet as we know it--for the worse." A popular motto in business says, “if it’s free, then you are probably the product”.

Facebook collects users' and groups' data including their personal information and all of their preferences. The social network giant uses those data for target advertising by its clients.  Despite all the scandals about Facebook, billions of people still use its platform, making it the world's largest and most popular social media.

The war between the two tech giants started when Apple updated its software to educate users on how Facebook is tracking users and collecting their data. The update provides an option for users to opt-out of data gathering from Facebook.

Facebook couldn’t accept the fact that Apple is “sticking its nose” to its business. Apple's opt-out policy could result in huge losses to the social network giant.

Therefore, Facebook argued that Apple's privacy policy will eliminate freemium websites in the future. It would be too expensive for websites to reach out to clients, and they’ll have to scale their business to subscription-based to survive.

This is a prototype opt-in panel @Apple plans to show users for every app (not just @Facebook) that wishes to track users. It merely allows users to choose whether or not to okay tracking. So, if FB tracking is fair, open and helpful, why is it so afraid of this pop-up? pic.twitter.com/5XBxSOfUsG

— Walt Mossberg (@waltmossberg) December 17, 2020

The social network giant's claim is misleading since the free content-based business model will soon vanish anyway. Many businesses either charge their clients for access (subscription-based) or sell their products or services directly to consumers.

Facebook chose to fight Apple instead of trying to adapt its business model. Many experts suggest that the social network giant will probably lose its battle against Apple as a result of its action.

Nevertheless, Apple isn’t a superhero either. The Cupertino-based tech giant is also facing accusations of unlawful business practices such as intentionally throttling the speeds of older iPhones to extend battery life, and engaging in monopoly.

----------------------------------------

Have a story you want USA Herald to cover? Submit a tip here and if we think it's newsworthy, we'll follow up on it.

Want to contribute a story? We also accept article submissions – check out our writer's guidelines here.