Apple has search ads on the app store that can target demographic information about their users. Where do you think Apple sources that information from? It's the same crap Google does where they collect data but don't share it with other companies. The only difference is Apple hides their probably-anti-trust-worthy user tracking shenanigans behind feel good user measures that block the same tracking for competitors.
I don't use apple app store ads, this is a relatively tiny exposure in the Apple ecosystem.
I just compare this to for example buying the FTC and DOJ approved Vizio TV, which will both monitor what you watch, sell that to third parties, and start popping up ads on the device you bought. Yes, a clickthrough policy gives them the OK to do this, but my trust in them and FTC/DOJ is low.
Apple ads as far as I can tell does not do the data broker buy / sell, and you can usually turn this stuff off / on here:
Settings > Privacy > Apple Advertising
If you want you can easily see the segments you fall into.
I know you claim this is the same thing Facebook provides. I doubt it personally.
Let's see what side of the argument Apple lands on when real user data protections are enacted with stiff penalties. Otherwise their entire schtick is "do as I say not as I do". They have the money and political connections to push real change through, they just profit too much by being the sole data broker on iOS (see Google paying them for preferential treatment).
Because they actually CHARGE for their services, including a 30% cut of sales on app store, they don't need to sell you out. So data protection is much less a threat to them then it is to google / facebook et al.
The weird thing is folks on HN have a hard-on for destroying Apple, when we know that if regulators ACTUALLY cracked down on a real abuse (Vizio selling your viewing) Apple would be unphased (they probably don't sell any data to third parties) as their ad revenue is a fraction of their overall massive revenue from actual sales.
> Because they actually CHARGE for their services, including a 30% cut of sales on app store, they don't need to sell you out.
It also means they can do both and reap double the profits. Like how they use their position as the exclusive distributor of apps to sell targeted ads to people on the App Store.
> The weird thing is folks on HN have a hard-on for destroying Apple
The weirder thing is how many folks on HN have a hard-on for defending Apple, despite the fact that they're pretty much the largest company in the world, full-stop. If they're not deserving of criticism for having hundreds of billions of dollars in liquid cash and hundreds of unsolved problems, I fail to see how the plight of Vizio or Zynga really matters by comparison.
