The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that back in 2018, in the middle of a long-standing dispute between the two companies, Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg had harsh words for Tim Cook’s Apple Inc.
The new episode in the feud includes privacy alerts that Apple wants to provide for iPhones in the iOS 14 operating system. The alerts prompt users to give permission to apps that want to track their activity, a move that Zuckerberg fears would harm the ad-driven business of his company.
In 2018, when a disagreement arose between the two over data collection procedures, the WSJ article said the Facebook boss didn’t hold back his thoughts on Apple.
“We need to inflict pain,” he told his team, for treating the company so poorly, according to people familiar with the exchange.
In the latest episode of the privacy prompts for iOS 14, Facebook said in a statement that the prompts do not provide context on how personalized advertising would help iPhone users.
“To help people make a more informed decision, we’re also showing a screen of our own, along with Apple’s. It will provide more information about how we use personalized ads, which support small businesses and keep apps free,” Facebook.
Zuckerberg also said that Apple was one of Facebook’s biggest rivals at the company’s fourth-quarter earnings conference last week.