Apple CEO Tim Cook used an appearance on a virtual panel on International Data Protection Day on Thursday to attack Facebook in a series of thinly veiled shocks and to call for global data protection reforms. Cook's remarks followed reports earlier on the day the social media giant prepared an antitrust lawsuit against Apple over updating the iPhone maker's privacy policy, potentially escalating a long-lasting feud between the two Technology titans.
"If a company is based on misleading users, on data usage and on decisions that are not decisions at all, then it doesn't deserve our praise. It deserves reform," Cook said in one noteworthy note on Facebook. "A social dilemma must not turn into a social catastrophe."
Everything Apple
CNET's Apple Report newsletter provides news, reviews, and advice about iPhones, iPads, Macs, and software.
Cook's appearance on the panel is about to roll out Apple's privacy policy change for iOS 14 apps, and one day after Google announced that its apps will comply with the new mandates. According to Apple's new policy, apps in the App Store must notify the user when they use the advertiser tracking technology known as IDFA and obtain the user's consent.
During the panel, Cook made a number of calls for better consumer privacy and broader industry reforms. He extolled Apple's policy, known as App Tracking Transparency, and other new transparency measures the company has taken.
"The first is a simple but revolutionary idea that we call privacy nutrition labeling. Every app - including our own - needs to share its data collection and privacy practices, information that the App Store presents in a way that every user can understand and be aware of Can react. "Cook said in an allusion to the allegations of Facebook that Apple's own apps are not obliged to comply with data protection regulations.
According to Cook, Apple users have long asked about features like App Tracking Transparency, and Apple has worked closely with developers to give them time to implement the transparency feature as the company continues to shift towards an overall reduced data collection. This requires global and industry-wide reform measures, according to Cook.
"Right now, users may not know if the apps they use to pass the time check in with their friends or find a place to eat are actually information about the photos they have taken and people sharing their contact list or location data that reflects it where to eat, sleep or pray, "he said. "When ATT is fully effective, users will have a say in this type of tracking."
See also: Browser-Based VPNs: 3 to Try to Improve Privacy Online
With the exception of the name, Cook has accused Facebook of manipulating public message consumption and exploiting user data collection to serve targeted ads while promoting political polarization and the spread of misinformation.
"What are the consequences," he asked, "if conspiracy theories and violent incitement are prioritized based on their high engagement rate alone? What are the consequences if content that undermines public trust in life-saving vaccinations is not only tolerated but rewarded? " Are the consequences of having thousands of users join extremist groups? "
While it didn't confirm whether the company was preparing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, Facebook urged Cook's statements in an email to CNET.
"As we have said repeatedly, we believe that Apple is behaving anticompetitive by using control of the App Store to improve bottom-line results at the expense of app developers and small businesses," a Facebook spokesman said.
The response reflected Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's comments on the company's earnings call on Wednesday.
"Apple has every incentive to use its dominant platform position to interfere with the functioning of our apps and other apps, which they regularly do to favor their own."
