The battle for privacy: Apple a network shutdown to Facebook

Yesterday, once again, there was a chapter of the open clash between Facebook and Apple on privacy

An interview with Tim Cook, CEO of the iPhone production company, has responded peremptorily to the various criticisms that Mark Zuckerberg has raised in recent weeks, directed at Apple’s new privacy strategies.

Before we get into the latest episode of what has now become a saga, let’s try to understand the origins of this conflict.

Apple has been focusing its attention for some time, including in marketing campaigns, on the issue of privacy and the defense of the confidentiality of its users.

In reality, this is also a fundamental element in the philosophy with which Apple produces its software, because it does not consider the interference in the habits of its users and the recording of their behavior a detail on which to build a business.

This conceptual approach also translates into technological solutions that the company routes and inserts in its devices.

If you use Safari, the Internet browser application on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, to perform an online search, only the words necessary for that same search are transmitted to the servers.

When the same operation is carried out using the Google page, the position is transmitted, what type of smartphone you are using, as well as a series of additional information that users are often unaware of.

Even when using Apple Maps web browsing, the anonymous identification code of a device never matches the user’s name.

Apple knows that a certain device with a certain code at a certain time is in the heart of Rome, but it does not know whose phone it is.

This way of managing privacy goes in the direction diametrically opposite to that of Facebook, but also that of Google, who make data collection a part of their business.

Like MisterGadget.Tech tells us in these hours, the new version of the iPhone software, which is now about to be released, will introduce a series of restrictions on what companies can track within a smartphone or tablet.

That is, very specific limits are established on what an application can see of what we do with the phone.

First of all, because there will be a new privacy label with which companies will have to explain in a clear, transparent and more than understandable way what information they collect from their users.

In addition, users will be asked to give their explicit consent for a particular application to record their behavior while using the smartphone.

Therefore, it will be essential to press a button and voluntarily approve a question such as: Do you want Facebook to track your activities when you surf the Internet?

It is evident that a very high percentage of users will answer no.

A fairly mixed response emerged from the administration of the social network at first, accusing Apple of harming local businesses and reducing their ability to promote their business.

Later, Facebook began to talk about reducing its turnover and therefore the damage caused to investors by the company that makes the iPhone. The focus has changed even more recently.

Mark Zuckerberg specified a few days ago that Apple’s restrictions will likely push more users into direct selling within the Facebook app, and thus this will translate to an advantage for the social media giant.

Only time will tell if this version is reliable.

Today’s interview with the New York Times responds to many of these arguments through the words of Apple CEO Tim Cook, who not only expresses amazement at the reaction unleashed by Facebook, but seriously closes the discussion by stating that it is difficult to argue against user privacy. .

To the question: “What do you respond to criticism from Facebook?”, The answer was peremptory.

All we’re doing, Kara, is giving the user the option to get tracked or now. And I think it’s hard to argue against that. I was surprised that there has been a pushback on this up to this point.
Tim Cook – New York Times April 5

The CEO of the company was also asked if he thinks it is true that Apple’s new options are hurting Facebook’s business, but Tim Cook responded rather harshly.

Since your job is to find the best ways to scale up and utilize Apple’s business, you don’t know the dynamics that drive other companies’ business. A fancy way of saying that what the effect is on Facebook’s revenue is not one of your main interests.

As always, we rely on experts to get a balanced opinion on the matter: more than one leading voice in the technology and innovation segment believes that Apple’s approach to privacy is the best in the digital field.

On the opposite front, however, shortly over the weekend we discovered that 533 million Facebook users have seen their personal information end up online and of these 37 million are Italian.

Also in light of what has happened in recent days, knowing what confidential data companies collect and how they store it is a fundamental aspect of our digital life.