Mark Zuckerberg has hit back at veiled criticism of Facebook’s data policies by the boss of Apple, saying that the suggestion that his company did not care about its users was “extremely glib” and “not at all aligned with the truth”.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, took a swipe at the Facebook founder last week in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, when asked what he would do if he were in the Mr Zuckerberg’s position.

Mr Cook drew a distinction between Apple and Facebook, saying: “I wouldn’t be in this situation.” He said the iPhone maker refused to use data to target advertising at customers: “We care about the user experience and we’re not going to traffic in your personal life.”