14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook has funded a study on Apple's new iOS 14 App Tracking Transparency enhancements, that claim to be solely for Apple's benefit.
SSRN, the company that conducted the study, thanks Facebook for its assistance in sponsoring this report. They also say that the opinions expressed in the study are solely their own.
According to the report, Apple's iOS 14 update is an anti-competitive approach camouflaged as a privacy-protection measure. Apple now forbids non-Apple apps from using information required to provide relevant, tailored advertising without explicit user consent. And users may only opt-in after being presented with a scary and deceptive alert about tracking, that Apple's own applications and services do not have to display because customers already opted in to Apple's own tracking.
The document is a blistering formal accusation of Apple's iOS 14 revisions, a sweeping condemnation of the policy that seems virtually unassailable. Except for a brief footnote on the first page that states:
"Huber C. Hurst Eminent Scholar Chair in Law and Professor, University of Florida Levin College of Law and Piramal Associate Professor of Business Administration, HBS. We gratefully acknowledge support from Facebook, Inc. in funding this analysis. The views expressed here are solely our own".
Facebook says that Apple is damaging its business
Facebook has been an outspoken critic of Apple's policies, claiming they will impact small businesses and ad revenue on its platform, the analysis reflects. According to research conducted by iMore in April, only 2% of iOS users intend to let apps monitor them now that the new opt-in feature is available, suggesting that the vast majority of users would rather have more control over their privacy.
Facebook also portrayed the dispute regarding new iOS 14 App Tracking changes in the past as one that will harm millions of small businesses that utilize its social networks to reach out to potential customers, arguing that Apple is making it more difficult for advertisers to monitor people in order to increase its own revenues.