Mark Zuckerberg is now optimistic about Apple's privacy changes to iOS 14

Humza

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In a nutshell: In a Clubhouse session on Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented on Apple's upcoming iOS 14 privacy update, noting that his social media company will not only be able to manage through the changes but that it could also benefit from them as businesses on the platform would be increasingly locked into its own ecosystem of advertising and commerce offerings.

Facebook has openly opposed and criticized Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature that is expected to fully roll out for iOS this spring. The privacy control will essentially put iPhone users in charge of whether they want to be tracked by apps for third-party advertising.

The two companies have been trading blows over this issue during the past few months, with Facebook even threatening a lawsuit to accuse Apple of abusing its dominant position in the name of privacy. Now, however, it appears that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become accepting of the change, noting that Facebook "will be able to manage through" Apple's anti-tracking measures.

The platform could even benefit from these changes, according to Zuckerberg, as Apple's stance against cross-app tracking would mean that brands and companies using Facebook-owned platforms won't be able to track users on other apps (and vice versa) to expand their audience.

"It’s possible that we may even be in a stronger position if Apple’s changes encourage more businesses to conduct more commerce on our platforms by making it harder for them to use their data in order to find the customers that would want to use their products outside of our platforms," says Zuckerberg.

While it sounds like a way of saying the glass is half full, Facebook has been building and maturing commerce features inside apps like Facebook Shops and Instagram Shops to prepare for Apple's incoming privacy changes and keep users engaged in its ecosystem. It could also do a bit more to address the shady ad practices if it wants small businesses to actually thrive on its platforms.

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So either Apple decided to accommodate some sort of shady deal to exempt Facebook from the hardest aspects of the policy or Zuckerberg is now betting on this regulation choking the life out of many smaller competitors while they will be able to survive the hit much more easily simple because too big to fail at this point.

If I was a betting person I would bet on the later and not the former.
 
I can live without both companies but I’d choose to live without Facebook over Apple every day of the week. At least Apple make things and have some pretty strong intellectual property. All Facebook does is sell your data to the highest bidding corps to line their own pockets to the tune of billions so that they can buy out or push down competitors and even influence local politics. This is when they aren’t threatening governments.

Facebook is a disgusting organisation and I do hope that someday someone takes a leaf out of GTAV and rigs Zuckerbergs latest Oculus to explode on his face during a press release.
 
I feel Zuckerburg is saying this as a reverse psychology to try and claim their investors. Let's see how it goes once iOS 14.5 is out with the privacy feature.
 
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