An epic showdown is brewing between Apple and Facebook after the phone maker introduced a new operating system allowing users to block companies like Facebook from tracking consumers' web browsing habits to exploit them for advertising revenues. Facebook's tracking has become onerous, invasive and downright scary, so Apple's intervention marks a potential turning point in reining in an otherwise unstoppable behemoth.

But the interesting aspect here is that the marketplace is stepping in to regulate Facebook without relying on the grandstanding antics of politicians like Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley. In 2018, as the state's attorney general, Hawley announced an investigation into Facebook's data handling, alleging that Missouri voters' user data may have been compromised ahead of the 2016 election. The investigation, like so much Hawley does, went nowhere.

Since then, he has railed against Big Tech giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google, going so far as to propose antitrust legislation under threatening titles like the Bust Up Big Tech Act. Hawley's successor, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, has signed onto a federal antitrust lawsuit against Facebook. But if Hawley, Schmitt and others wait long enough, Apple might help do the work for them. Once upon a time, the Republican Party stood as the champion of allowing the marketplace to self-regulate.

The iPhone maker just released its newest operating system, which requires users to give their permission before an outside company may access the user's ad-tracking identifier. The identifier is what enables Facebook, among others, to tailor ads that weirdly appear on a user's screen for days after performing an online search. For example, the user searches for pink plaid golf shorts, and suddenly ads keep popping up on that person's Facebook account for pink plaid golf shorts.

The experience is eerie and frightening, a reminder of how Big Tech has morphed into Big Brother. They don't just track people's searches; they follow where people go, what they buy and who they interact with. They do it even when people are sleeping. Facebook's $70 billion business hinges on continued access to such data.

It was technically possible before to block companies like Facebook from accessing such user data. Apple just made it a lot easier. More importantly, the new operating system requires an affirmative response from users to grant permission for their privacy to be invaded.

Facebook generates massive amounts of income not just from the ads but also from selling the vast trove of data extracted from phones and on computers.

Asking for users' permission is anathema to this business model. They are developing annoying pop-up ads that will soon appear asking if the advertiser can access users' data. Our advice: Just say no.

It's time to take back your privacy. Other phone and computer makers should follow Apple's lead and chop Big Brother down to size.

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