The article was about how Apple is out maneuvering Facebook. By restricting Facebook's third party access to customer information, Apple reinforces its own advertising position. They recently added another placement to the search page in the AppStore, and will no doubt expand to more areas. Their hiring of a former Facebook ad executive is telling.
It addresses this good guy / bad guy narrative. Apple is better at PR not necessarily better for consumer privacy.
This absolutely does not mean that Apple is realy a defender of consumer privacy. Apple does not support privacy out of principle but does it for PR and market share. Apple will (and does) happily compromise privacy for their bottom line.
Apple shouldn't be in charge of commerce on iPhone. It's as if there were only two electric companies, and they charged Tesla 30% to charge your car. The electric company is now in charge of the ads being beamed into your skull, because they had all the power and wanted more ways to make money. It's cute to say that it's in the name of consumer privacy and all, but really the powerful company is just thirsty for more.
Apple is a monopoly's monopoly.
So who should be? Facebook? Google? Microsoft? Adobe? Disney? Samsung?
How many APIs and app packaging do you think app developers would bother working with?
How much time do you think it would take for the network effect to desertify all-but-one?
Given the only incentive for these stores would be user monetization, how long would it take for the winner to make confetti out of your privacy?
If Apple's strategy is "Privacy is a luxury item we embed in our products", how would breaking Apple's monopoly on Apple's products affect Privacy?
Currently you are forced to use Apple's AppStore and payments. Apple invades your privacy and tracks your activity without any ability to opt out.
If you could install other software on the devices you own, you would have a choice to avoid this tracking.
It's strange that he got downvoted for telling something so obvious.
What's the point of choice if all choices are bad?
This whole "Consumer Choice™" delusion is some wonder to behold.
So just opt in when the phone gives you the choice.
Then you are extremely naive.
Apple takes away from you as much private data as it can. It's just very bad at exploiting it, primarily because the company already earns so much money, it's not even incentivized in recognizing the benefit of data mining.
But with iPhones sells diminishing every year, the situation is changing. Growth must come from services.
Apple will continue to slurp away your private data. Apple will invest more into this resource, and make more and more use of it, including for the targeted Ads that used to be "so evil" when they came from another Ad network, but hey, if it's Apple, it's different.