Tech Talk: Behind Apple’s Push to ‘Kneecap’ Facebook

The long-simmering feud between Apple and Facebook is heating up once again. If you missed it, Apple CEO Tim Cook told The New York Times on Monday his company is set to rollout a new feature that will ask users for their consent before apps are allowed to track their data across other apps. The new feature, dubbed App Tracking Transparency, or ATT, will hit iPhones within the next few weeks. Why is this a big deal? It directly threatens the business models of companies like Facebook and Twitter, which leverage data to hit users with targeted ads – — and that gives TheWrap’s Sean Burch and Big Technology‘s Alex Kantrowitz plenty to talk about on the latest episode of Tech Talk. For reference, Facebook’s revenue hit $86 billion last year — and 98% of that came from advertising. Facebook warned investors earlier this year Apple’s privacy push could impact its business moving forward, and the company has recently said Apple’s changes will ultimately hurt small businesses that depend on Facebook and Instagram advertising. Cook, for his part, said he’s not buying Facebook’s “flimsy” arguments.