IDX CEO Tom Kelly Discusses Apple’s War to Protect Privacy

As featured on The Price of Business Show with Kevin Price

Apple’s recent iOS 14.5 release enables users to opt-out of sharing data with the apps they’re using, preventing advertisers and other services from tracking user activity across other apps and the web. Tom Kelly, president and CEO of IDX, sat down with Kevin Price to unravel this new feature and what it means for user privacy.

This small step from Apple is a great step in the fight toward privacy rights for all. It shows that the Apple business model is not as engrained in collecting data from you, although like all Big Tech companies does it in some form or capacity.

With the introduction of this new feature and Apple’s new privacy stance, many saw Facebook’s angry reaction. In the interview, Kelly explains how, although Facebook is free, the user is often the product. This is especially illustrated by the fact that the very backbone of Facebook’s business model is centered on targeted ads for their users. Facebook’s reaction is a direct indication of their efforts to harvest data from users, and their reaction coincides with the belief that if users are given the choice, many will opt-out of such data tracking from the company, affecting the overall business and revenue stream.

As a result, Kelly urges all to be cautious of what you share on social media, enable privacy settings on your social media apps whenever possible, and continue to be alert of what you’re making available online and what devices may or may not be listening to you.

Interested in learning more? Try one of these recent articles:

1. Managing Employee Privacy Protection in the Age of Big Tech and Personal Data
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3. How to Take Charge of Your Digital Privacy: A Roundup of Resources