It’s war: Apple CEO Tim Cook, right, has announced new features that will prevent Facebook (and others) from tracking users on the Internet.
Netizens previously abandoned any hope for privacy when they surf the Internet.
Most Internet users are not aware of who is tracking them or listening to them via apps that access their microphones on their smartphones and browsers.
Cook announced the new Safari browser privacy features during an interview with CNN. He said issues around privacy on the Internet have “gotten out of control” and that some form of regulation would be fair, since Facebook is not regulating itself.
Zuckerberg lost thousands of Facebook users when news broke that a tech firm in England used the social network to drive voters to the Trump campaign.
“I think most people are not aware of who is tracking them, how much they’re being tracked and the large amounts of detailed data that are out there about them,” Cook said.
“So what we believe is one of the most offensive things is when you are on another website but this website that you were on three or four times earlier is still tracking what you’re doing.”
Apple’s software boss Craig Federigh said, “We’ve all seen these Like buttons, and Share buttons and these comment fields. Well, it turns out these can be used to track you, whether you click on them or not.”
To resolve the issue, Apple unveiled a new Safari browser tool called “intelligent tracking prevention” that will limit how Facebook tracks users on the web.
The new Safari tools will “shut down” the ability of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to track users, including blocking Like and Share buttons that can be used by social media platforms to monitor web users.
The new tools will be available in the latest macOS 10.14 update, as well as iOS 12 for the iPhone and iPad.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
