WIRED Opinion
With a swipe at Facebook, Apple's Safari opens up a chasm in tech
Apple could have made an example of any number of websites. But it didn't. It chose Facebook. And that matters
By Matt Burgess
Apple has taken a massive swipe at Facebook's data collecting business model. Towards the end of a two-hour developer keynote at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), senior vice president of software Craig Federighi, proudly sent a quiet panic running through the adtech industry: the next version of Safari, he announced, will alert users when their web browsing is being recorded by third parties.
Users will have the option, via a pop-up notification, to stop a tracker following them across the web. The demo Apple gave used a tracker from Facebook.com as an example. "We're shutting that down," Federighi said. Apple could have made an example of any number of websites. But it didn't. It chose Facebook. And that matters.
In taking aim at Facebook, Apple has explicitly signalled that it is against ad-based tracking across the web and that it's willing to do something about it. Federighi says the snooping warning, which will be present in Apple's Safari browser on iPhone, iPad and Mac, will target Like buttons, share buttons and comment fields that are added to websites from third-parties.
The introduction of the tracking blocker comes as part of Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention 2.0 developer tools. As part of the update Apple is also making it harder for advertisers to fingerprint devices – another way of tracking people across the web. The method involves taking device and system settings to build-up a profile of a user. Fingerprinting doesn't allow for an individual to be identified but adding more information into what is collected creates a larger overall picture. When the new version of Safari is released later this year, it will present limited information to advertisers about the type of device you are using.
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The impact of these combined changes could be huge (and bad) for Facebook. Analysis from StatCounter suggests almost 14 per cent of internet users run Apple's Safari – although it lags far behind Google Chrome's browser, which has almost 60 per cent of the market. But by raising user awareness of tracking – and making it easier to stop – Apple could quickly change consumer behaviour.
In the wake of the Cambridge Analytical scandal, Facebook has said that the Like button is on at least 8.4 million websites and its share button is placed on 931,000 websites. The Facebook Pixel that allows websites to "optimise" data about individuals is on a further 2.2 million sites.
Each one of these tools helps Facebook gather data. The presence of a Like or share button allows Facebook to know what a user browses when they're not on Facebook and this data can be filtered back into advertising profiles. The more that's known about a user, the more specific adverts can be.
Unsurprisingly, Facebook isn't happy. Surprisingly, it's been airing that distaste in public. Facebook's chief security officer, Alex Stamos, took to Twitter to criticise Apple's move. Instead of saying Safari shouldn't block Like buttons or comment fields, Stamos argued Apple should have gone further. If Apple cared about privacy, he said, it should block all third-party Javascript and tracking pixels across the web – including Facebook's Pixel.
As Stamos implied, Facebook isn't the only company to track users to boost advertising revenues. The ad industry is built on an unhealthy addiction to your data. Between them, Google and Facebook collected 75 per cent of global ad revenue.
Apple's hit at Facebook is part of a larger effort to set itself apart from the tech businesses that exist on money made from data. (It helps that Apple's business model focuses on highly expensive hardware). Almost every time Apple launches a new product it boasts about how it has put privacy front and centre – and it publicly took on the FBI when it demanded Apple decrypt devices linked to an investigation. When applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to iPhones, Apple does so on individual handsets, rather than in the cloud. This applies to the facial recognition in its Photos App.
At last year's WWDC, Apple introduced blocks for browser tracking that stops adverts for products you've recently browsed from appearing on other websites. Apple isn't the only company with a web browser that's against advertising tracking. The once-mighty Firefox, developed by Mozilla, has a Do Not Track setting that attempts to stop you being tracked across the web. Google has also made efforts with Chrome to block dodgy advertising practices.
As a hardware manufacturer, Apple knows it has absolute control over its platform. And that's hugely important for changing consumer behaviour en masse. The majority of iOS users will update to the latest version of Safari and use it by default. For Facebook, and the countless other companies that depend on intrusive tracking to hoover up advertising revenue, Apple's latest salvo is just the beginning.
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