Facebook users have suggested that a recent program outage be planned so that Facebook developers can install tracking devices on mobile phones. It is not true.
One such message, which has been shared 1,500 times since January 23, promotes a message from another Facebook user who displays a “Detection” page on a screenshot of the privacy settings of an Apple iPhone (here) . The user also writes: “Those of you who were out of the face book this morning … look at your phones, because it looks like a new tracking device for our app has been installed on our phones.”
The message then contains some short instructions to stop the “device” from working: “Go to settings, privacy, then you will see it if you do not want to turn it off.”
On January 23, Facebook said a widespread issue logging users out of their accounts was a “configuration change” – and did not expand further (here). It had nothing to do with the “Detection” tab on Apple devices, which preceded the Facebook issue.
The ‘Detection’ tab is actually part of Apple’s iOS 14 release last year, which aims to give iPhone users better control over their privacy. This is called App Tracking Transparency (ATT), and requires users to explicitly give permission for downloaders to use their data. This is for targeted advertising and specific data sharing (here, here).
The Facebook user screenshot shows how to use the ATT framework to prevent all downloaded apps from using data, not just Facebook, which is outlined here.
This new feature was highlighted by Facebook, which took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to say it “stands against Apple” (here). In a separate statement, Facebook said that the feature would have a “detrimental impact” on small businesses relying on personal ads, and that Apple’s policy is about ‘profit, not privacy’ (here). Facebook later highlighted the controls offered by the 2019 Off-Facebook activity feature that allows users to see a summary of the information and tracking information for sites – and says that this feature can be disabled (here ).
Technology news site 9to5mac later reported that it had received a statement from Apple in response to Facebook’s criticism. According to 9to5mac, the statement reads: “Users need to know when their data is being collected and shared across other programs and websites – and they should have the choice to allow it or not. Transparency of app tracking in iOS 14 does not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users and creating targeted ads, it simply requires giving users a choice ”(here).
VERDICT
Untrue. Facebook has not installed a tracking device on users’ phones. The ‘Tracking’ feature on Apple devices was introduced in a recent iOS 14 update and requires users to give permission before apps can detect specific data.
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