
A former product manager at Meta has raised serious allegations against the company, claiming it circumvented Apple’s privacy protections and misled advertisers. In his case, the employee, Samujjal Purkayastha, asserts he was terminated for repeatedly flagging these practices internally. According to Purkayastha, Meta found ways to identify Apple users who opted out of app tracking, potentially to mitigate an estimated $10 billion revenue loss.
Impact of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency
The introduction of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) in 2021 marked a significant change in how companies could track user data. This policy required explicit user consent to collect data for personalized advertising, a strategy that Meta heavily relied on to target specific demographics. Following the rollout of ATT, it was reported that most users declined to allow tracking, leading to predictions of substantial financial repercussions for social media platforms.
Meta’s Chief Financial Officer warned investors that the company might face losses of around $10 billion annually due to these new restrictions. In this context, Purkayastha alleges that Meta resorted to workarounds, allowing it to continue tracking users who had denied permission. This led to a class action lawsuit, further complicating the situation for the tech giant.
Claims of Unlawful Dismissal
Purkayastha has taken his allegations to an employment tribunal, asserting that his dismissal was unlawful and a direct consequence of his attempts to raise concerns about the company’s practices. According to reports from the Financial Times, he claims that a covert team within Meta employed “deterministic matching” techniques to connect identifiable user data across different platforms, directly violating Apple’s privacy measures.
In his filings, Purkayastha argues that Meta’s actions not only infringed on user consent but also involved inflating the advertising revenue it reported. This potentially misled investors about the true performance of its advertising business.
In response to these allegations, Meta firmly denies any wrongdoing, maintaining that Purkayastha’s termination was unrelated to the matters he raised. The tribunal has yet to issue a ruling on the case, but a full hearing is expected later this year.
As this situation unfolds, it highlights ongoing tensions between major tech companies and privacy advocates, particularly regarding how user data is managed and protected in an increasingly digital world.