In much the same way Americans lump all journalists and news organizations into a singular monolith called “the media,” we tend to paint the largest technology companies with the same broad brush.
Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook are the “big four” of “big tech,” and depending on who’s counting, Netflix, Amazon and global powerhouses Samsung and Huawei are also part of the club.
They are fierce competitors, to be sure. Google has taken a big chunk out of the corporate sector once dominated by Microsoft. Apple and Samsung leapfrog each other each year in the high-end smartphone market. And Amazon’s push to sell literally everything has allowed it to take a bite out of almost everyone else’s pie chart.
Of all the companies wearing extra-large market caps, however, only one has unilateral and unchallenged control of an entire market: Facebook.
You might be able to name a handful of ostensible competitors in the social media space, like Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat, Tumblr, newcomer Clubhouse or even Microsoft-acquired LinkedIn. But all of them combined don’t add up to Facebook.
Facebook acquired the last potential challenge to its throne in 2012: Instagram. Today the two platforms together can blot out the social media sun.
What does this dominance get them? More data about consumer habits — both en masse and individually — than has ever been compiled before.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that a pCloud analysis last week declared Instagram the “most invasive” app, monetizing 79% of your data. Facebook came in second for sharing 57% of your data.
Yet you might not have a choice when it comes to participating in Facebook’s sprawling ecosystem.
If you’re one of the 3.8 billion social media users in the world, you’re probably using Facebook or Instagram. And if you want to connect with those users, if you want to sell them products and services, you have to use Facebook.
In fact, if you use the internet, you’re effectively a Facebook user, even without a Facebook account. This is because Facebook has built out a pervasive and powerful ad tracking network that includes almost every other commercial website and thousands of mobile apps.
How can Facebook track you without you visiting Facebook? By tracking your IDFA, or “identity for advertisers.”
In much the same way cookies allow websites and advertisers to track and customize the websites you visit in a browser, an IDFA is a unique identifier attached to your devices. With an IDFA it doesn’t matter which browser or even which app you’re using, so long as its linked to your smartphone.
European regulators tried to rein in browser cookies with the General Data Protection Regulation, which is why many websites you visit today ask for your permission before using them.
Now Apple is limiting the use of IDFAs with its Anti-Tracking Transparency initiative — and Facebook has taken it as a declaration of war.
In the next version of Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, all apps will need to get permission from users to track their activity across other companies’ apps and websites.
With the pop-up prompt, each app will have an opportunity to explain why allowing them to track you is a good thing. But it’s fair to say that Facebook and other advertising companies don’t expect universal approval.
Interestingly, this change was already delayed in September due to widespread outcry from advertising networks. The permission requirement was originally planned to launch alongside Apple’s App Store “Privacy Nutrition Labels.”
Today every app must clearly disclose its privacy policies in the App Store. And soon every user will be able to decide whether they want an app to link their devices to nebulous global databases that have collected their searches, purchases, visits and other personal information.
Facebook says the move will hurt consumers in the form of less personalized ads. Facebook says small businesses will be harmed by losing the ability to target you with their ads. Facebook has taken out full-page newspaper ads criticizing Apple’s move and has even hinted that it might take legal action.
In my book, anything that makes Facebook nervous is probably a good thing.
Besides, if you want all the benefits this tracking apparently provides, all you have to do is tap “Allow.”
Ryan Kawailani Ozawa covers science, technology and startups in Hawaii, and hosts a free and open local tech community chat room at HawaiiSlack.com Opens in a new tab.
