Tim Cook says Facebook can continue to track users, but they should ask permission first

Pitching his two bits into the Facebook-Apple face-off about the new privacy features, Apple CEO Tim Cook said they believe users should have the choice over the data that is being collected about them and how it’s used.

Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted about Facebook's tracking its users and added his opinion to what he thinks about the latest feud.  (REUTERS)

Facebook recently hit out at Apple's latest privacy policy that allowed users to block advertisers from tracking them across apps. Facebook and other companies, which earn revenue from advertisement sales, had said the feature would hurt developers. 

And that was not all, Facebook even took out a full-page ads in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, with the headline “We're standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere.”

Apple hit back stating - "When invasive tracking is your business model, you tend not to welcome transparency and customer choice."

Apple CEO Tim Cook has now pitched in his opinion about this whole issue with a tweet where he said that Facebook is welcome to keep tracking its users, butt they should take permission first. 

We believe users should have the choice over the data that is being collected about them and how it's used. Facebook can continue to track users across apps and websites as before, App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 will just require that they ask for your permission first. pic.twitter.com/UnnAONZ61I

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 17, 2020

“We believe users should have the choice over the data that is being collected about them and how it's used. Facebook can continue to track users across apps and websites as before, App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 will just require that they ask for your permission first,” Cook tweeted. 

The latest change in iOS 14 adds privacy labels to apps. These privacy labels carry basic information about if the app is tracking you and what data it collects from you. 

The whole point of these privacy labels is to make users aware of what data is being collected from them. To understand more about how these privacy labels work, you can click here. 

Facebook previously told investors that Apple's changes, scheduled to go live early next year, will lead to significant headwinds because most of its advertisers are small businesses. Apple has pushed back, accusing Facebook in November of showing a “disregard for user privacy”.

“While limiting how personalized ads can be used does impact larger companies like us, these changes will be devastating to small businesses,” Facebook claims.