Apple’s Jane Horvath slams Facebook, commits to app tracking transparency

A senior director at the world’s most valuable company, Apple, has confirmed it’s still committed to protecting your privacy.

Apple’s head of privacy has slammed Facebook’s “creepy” tracking of users and confirmed it’s still committed to stopping it for its customers.

In a letter responding to concerns raised by a digital rights monitor on behalf of seven other human rights organisations, the world’s most valuable company’s senior director of global privacy Jane Horvath called some methods of advertiser tracking “invasive” and “creepy” and confirmed the company still planned to do something about it.

Ms Horvath even called out one particular tech giant by name for its collection and use of user data.

“Facebook executives have made clear their intent is to collect as much data as possible across both first and third party products to develop and monetise detailed profiles of their users, and this disregard for user privacy continues to expand to include more of their products,” Ms Horvath said.

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Jane Horvath speaking at an industry roundtable on privacy in technology at the Consumer Electronics Show in January this year. Picture: David Becker/Getty Images

Apple announced in June that it would bring new features to its iOS operating system that would help you understand what data apps planned to collect and allow you to stop them collecting it.

A number of developers weren’t happy about that, either because that data is at the core of their business or because they would have to rewrite code to comply.

One of them was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

He argued it would hurt small businesses (the ones his company allows to advertise at least), which he previously credited for keeping Facebook’s revenue up during the pandemic.

He also said AAT could have a “meaningful negative effect” on economic recovery over the next few years on a call with investors in October.

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Mark Zuckerberg testifying to a US House Committee in 2018 after Facebook user data was obtained by shadowy political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

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Apple has now delayed the introduction of its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) features until next year, prompting the letter from organisations urging the company to push ahead in October.

“The widespread practice of tracking technology users’ online activity without their informed consent violates the fundamental human right to privacy,” the letter from Ranking Digital Rights reads.

“Apple is uniquely positioned to protect users from invasion of privacy by other companies, and consequently by governments that access corporate data through extra-legal channels.”

The group said the delay “validates corporate business models that funnel advertising revenue into companies’ coffers using tracking systems that are on by default” and runs counter to Apple’s recently announced human rights policy.

ATT could put some iPhone users off downloading the Facebook app. Picture: Denis Charlet/AFP

In response, Ms Horvath said Apple “remain fully committed to ATT” and developed it “because we share your concerns about users being tracked without their consent and the bundling and selling of data by advertising networks and data brokers”.

She said fears in the industry that ATT would “sabotage the economic model for the internet” were similar to ones from “companies that benefit from the status quo” when Apple made privacy-focused changes in the past, but said those fears “have not come to pass”.

“This privacy innovation empowers consumers – not Apple – by simply making it clear what their options are, and giving them information and power to choose,” she added.

Ms Horvath said advertising that respects people’s privacy was “not only possible” but was the standard before “unfettered data collection began over the last decade or so”.

She added the ATT policies, when they are introduced, would apply to all developers, including Apple, and despite the Facebook founder’s concern for small businesses, “the current data arms race primarily benefits big businesses with big data sets”.