San Francisco (AFP)

Facebook on Monday announced its latest tactic to try to counter Apple on the thorny issue of collecting personal data: the social media giant will release its own information to its users alongside that of the iPhone manufacturer.

"To help people make a more informed decision (whether or not to accept being tracked for ad targeting purposes), we're also showing our own notification, next to Apple's, which doesn't provide any context on the benefits of personalized ads, ”Dan Levy, the group's vice president in charge of advertising products, said in a statement.

The latest update to Apple's iOS mobile operating system, scheduled for this year, will require app publishers to ask users for their permission to track them.

Since then, Facebook has not taken off, because this measure will limit its ability to effectively target consumers with personalized ads on smartphones and on the web.

This is the heart of its economic model and that of many application publishers: their services are free, but they are remunerated through the sale of targeted (and anonymized) advertising space.

Apple's new consent window "suggests that we have to choose between personalized advertising and data privacy, when in reality we can provide both and we already do," insists Dan Levy.

"If you accept the request from Facebook and Instagram, the ads you see on these apps will not change. If you decline, you will still see ads, but they will match you less. Giving consent does not drive Facebook. to collect new types of data, ”he explains.

An Apple spokesperson stressed Monday that the Apple brand had already invited publishers to explain themselves, in the consent window, why they want to collect the data.

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