Facebook in war with Apple over data privacy changes

Facebook (FB) is currently pursuing a public relation effort to assault Apple (AAPL) in front of new iOS information protection changes that would make it harder for advertisers to follow clients, in a potential indication of exactly how much the interpersonal organization sees the move as a danger to its center business.

On Wednesday, Facebook held a press occasion to focus on private companies contradicted to the change, appeared another hashtag to talk about it and put advertisements in a few public papers abrading Apple for the move.

The newspaper ads coincide with a new segment of its SpeakUpforSmall Facebook for Business platform where Facebook encourages small business owners to share their story and give them their story.

Facebook, and the businesses who use it for marketing, rely on data tracking to target users with personalized advertising. The social mediacompany, which makes almost all of its revenuefrom advertising, warned investors in August that Apple’s software changes could hurt its business.

The privacy change was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June but is delayed until early 2021.During the event, Apple teased how a user would be shown a prompt asking if they want to allow tracking, warning that the data would be used for personalized ads.

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Apple has consistently sought to position itself as a consumer privacy advocate, presenting the reforms in September as arising from its conviction that “privacy is a fundamental human right.” Facebook, which has been criticized for its data privacy practices, is trying to position itself as a defender of small businesses, many of which are coping with the pandemic’s effects.

The advertisements say, “We’re standing up for small businesses everywhere,” “Many in the small business community have shared concerns about Apple’s forced software updates, which will limit businesses’ ability to run personalized ads and reach their customers effectively. … These changes will be devastating to small businesses, adding to the many challenges they face right now.”

The Facebook for Business website states that about 44% of small businesses have turned to personalized ads to adapt to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Dan Levy, Facebook’s VP of marketing and business items, said in a call to reporters on Wednesday that the company needs to sit down with Apple “to figure out a way to move forward.”

“We disagree with Apple’s approach, yet we have no choice but to show their prompt,” the company said Wednesday in a blog post on its site. “If we don’t, we’ll face retaliation from Apple, which could only further harm the businesses we want to support. We can’t take that risk.”

Apple rolls out privacy ‘nutrition labels’ on apps

Apple (AAPL) declined to respond to Facebook’s claims, but said it is committed to helping small businesses, such as with its new developer program to accelerate innovation.

The two businesses, including quite recently, have clashed over privacy before. Facebook-owned WhatsApp attacked Apple last week over its decision to show a rundown of the privacy policies of an app before a customer purchases it from the App Store, much like a data collection nutrition mark.

Facebook said in a statement to Axios that Apple should be “consistent across first and third party apps as well as reflect the strong measures apps may take to protect people’s privacy.” In response, Apple told CNN Business that the new label provision also applies to pre-installed apps, such as iMessage, the camera and clock features.

Facebook claimed in August that Apple’s in-app payments, such as a 30 percent charge for app purchases, had a detrimental effect on small businesses during the pandemic.