The Privacy Spat Between Facebook and Apple Is Just the Beginning

It’s tough to pinpoint exactly where things with Facebook and Apple went wrong, but like so many relationships gone sour, the first signs of real trouble looked like petty sniping. In March 2018, Facebook Inc. was in the midst of a scandal involving political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica and was facing serious questions about its stewardship of its users’ personal data. A commentator on MSNBC asked Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook what he would do if he were in Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shoes. “I wouldn’t be in this situation,” Cook said.

A week later, Zuckerberg implied Apple’s products were just for “rich people.” Then Apple showed off a feature to help phone users cut down on time spent inside apps. “If you see an app where you might want to be spending a little bit less time, you can set your own limit,” said an Apple executive, while Instagram’s app appeared on a large screen behind him.