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Tim Cook reiterates commitment to user privacy and security in letter on Apple website, launches new security page

 

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As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook has published a letter (below) on the company’s website expressing his commitment to the privacy and security of iOS and Mac users. Cook says that he will now issue annual updates on how user data is being handled, and the company will become even more transparent how its data collection tactics.

The executive also reiterated previous claims that neither he nor any part of the company has collaborated with governments to provide access to user information, noting again that Apple does not read users’ email, iMessages, and other communications. He also pointed out that there is no “profile” being created about user browsing habits or other data points that often interest advertisers.

The company also added a new “built-in security” page to its website which explains all of the measures put in place to keep user data private. It includes information about the security protecting iMessage, FaceTime, iCloud, Safari, Maps, Siri, Mail, the App Store, the new Health application, HomeKit, Spotlight, and the upcoming Apple Pay system.

Other new information added to the company’s privacy page include a page on managing your privacy through Apple’s software and a revamped page about government data requests.

Tim Cook’s full message is below:

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A message from Tim Cook about Apple’s commitment to your privacy.

At Apple, your trust means everything to us. That’s why we respect your privacy and protect it with strong encryption, plus strict policies that govern how all data is handled.

Security and privacy are fundamental to the design of all our hardware, software, and services, including iCloud and new services like Apple Pay. And we continue to make improvements. Two-step verification, which we encourage all our customers to use, in addition to protecting your Apple ID account information, now also protects all of the data you store and keep up to date with iCloud.

We believe in telling you up front exactly what’s going to happen to your personal information and asking for your permission before you share it with us. And if you change your mind later, we make it easy to stop sharing with us. Every Apple product is designed around those principles. When we do ask to use your data, it’s to provide you with a better user experience.

We’re publishing this website to explain how we handle your personal information, what we do and don’t collect, and why. We’re going to make sure you get updates here about privacy at Apple at least once a year and whenever there are significant changes to our policies.

A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy.

Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t “monetize” the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you. Our software and services are designed to make our devices better. Plain and simple.

One very small part of our business does serve advertisers, and that’s iAd. We built an advertising network because some app developers depend on that business model, and we want to support them as well as a free iTunes Radio service. iAd sticks to the same privacy policy that applies to every other Apple product. It doesn’t get data from Health and HomeKit, Maps, Siri, iMessage, your call history, or any iCloud service like Contacts or Mail, and you can always just opt out altogether.

Finally, I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will.

Our commitment to protecting your privacy comes from a deep respect for our customers. We know that your trust doesn’t come easy. That’s why we have and always will work as hard as we can to earn and keep it.

Tim

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Comments

  1. Thank you, TC.

  2. Taste_of_Apple - 10 years ago

    Apple is in great hands as long as Cook is in charge. He’s a genuinely sincere stand up guy.

  3. Chris - 10 years ago

    Reblogged this on —KnoGimmicks.com™— and commented:
    While Samsung is talking about bigger screens, etc, etc.— this is what end users really want! Reassurance of privacy, browser and information security directly from the CEO. A great product is not defined by by the price or the popularity, but by the quality. Clearly, this is what Tim Cook is stressing in his address to Apple end-users. It is class at it’s finest! When you are the CEO of such a great company, you have to carry yourself in that fashion and Tim Cook is doing a damn good job of being a successor of Steve Jobs if you ask me. He is great in a different way, in a new way. Tim Cook knows that he doesn’t need to be Steve Jobs to sell a great product, but by simply speaking from the perspective of consumers, he has definitely convinced me on his word. As far as him not working with the government or for the government, I really have no comment about big brother. They can do whatever they want, when they want, but I will continue to be an Apple fanatic, application user and iMAC user as long as I am a designer. Thanks Tim! Great work on addressing the nation about Apple products.

  4. Teeno Odi Petgrave - 10 years ago

    You Go Tim!

  5. Chris - 10 years ago

    Class!

  6. Thanks a lot, Tim! That means a lot to me.

  7. herb02135go - 10 years ago

    There is a lot that is missing.

    Has Apple ever provided info to a government agency? He doesn’t say.

    Does Apple sell user info? Not so clear.

    He’s pulling the wool over the eyes of the sheep. It’s not hard to do when his customers have blind faith.

    • Mike Beasley - 10 years ago

      You seem to troll on here a lot without actually doing any research. There’s a whole page dedicated to explaining Apple’s relationship with the government, and Cook says repeatedly that Apple is not in the business of monetizing user data. They haven’t sold it. They prohibit developers from selling it.

      You talk about “blind faith” but comment without reading the stories or the pages on Apple’s site. Seems ironic to me.

      • Mo Schmo (@AutoPill) - 10 years ago

        well said. i think you talk about samsung alot. google does read your email to post ads in the browser. i do not think that icloud email does that.

      • herb02135go - 10 years ago

        I didn’t say Apple was doing anything in particular. I just wanted to point out that Cook’s letter is full of holes.
        Information on a corporate website doesn’t have to be honest, either. Quick, what’s the penalty for a company lying on its website? There is none!

        Think critically. Tim Cook says somethin

      • Chris Denny (@dennyc69) - 10 years ago

        Well said!

    • herb02135go - 10 years ago

      Read between the lines, Beasley.
      Your job is to promote Apple so you don’t question it.
      I don’t have anything to promote.

      • peterlow8877 - 10 years ago

        So if I read between the lines of your reply, your job is NOT to promote Apple but to malign Apple and promote Google, Samsung, etc?

      • charilaosmulder - 10 years ago

        How ironic, you constantly promote your galaxy.

      • red26sox - 10 years ago

        Where is the Google privacy page?

    • a troll and a joke

  8. herb02135go - 10 years ago

    Tim Cook exists to sell Apple products. He will say/do what his handlers want to sell Apple products. Nothing else.

    Would you trust other salesmen without question?

    Stay curious.

    • charilaosmulder - 10 years ago

      Sounds profound, until you realise that you can’t find any of that disgusting business model you’re referring to in Apple’s revenue stream. The same can’t be said about Google and Facebook.

    • chrisl84 - 10 years ago

      You exist to have google read your texts emails and web searches, build a profile, and be sold to the highest bidder.

  9. Casey Christian - 10 years ago

    Ever since Tim Cook took over, I’ve said that he is a class act and that Apple is in very good hands; Steve Jobs knew exactly what he was doing when he chose his successor. After watching the full interview on Charlie Rose, seeing his response to these security issues as well as the Maps fiasco a couple years back, and how he continually gives credit and attention to the entire team, I am constantly impressed by his professionalism, passion, and strong sense of self. He will never be the brilliant visionary that Jobs was (and kudos to him for not trying to be) but in many ways involving the day to day operation of the company, an argument could be made that he’s a better, more well rounded CEO.

  10. The day they stop feeding user’s information to NSA,we get our TRUE PRIVACY.!

  11. Tim has taken on a lot of responsibility with this simple statement, and deserves credit for doing so, and being a responsible CEO. Bloomberg Businessweek has a great interview showing how Apple has changed, for the better in my opinion, under Cook’s leadership and it’s well worth a read. Steve chose well in Tim, thank God he didn’t choose Forstall! :-)

    Bloomberg interview on Tim Cook’s Apple is here – http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-17/tim-cook-interview-the-iphone-6-the-apple-watch-and-being-nice

  12. Dan (@danmdan) - 10 years ago

    Its as good a reassurance as we will get, but we can never be absolutely SURE. There must be a scenario where the CEO of an information holding Company would allow access to info. on the grounds of National security, on say the personal request of the President. This is the world we live in.

    • Michael Superczynski - 10 years ago

      Wouldn’t make any difference. Even the President can’t force Apple to disclose user data if it’s technically impossible for Apple to do so.

  13. Neha Mehra - 10 years ago

    So far no one is impressed with Apple products and their new software.Just checked some features of ios8,my htc one m8 is a lot better than iphone 6 or iphone 6 plus , this video clearly showed us more reason why you shouldn’t get the Apple product http://viralexpose.com/going-viral/the-real-truth-if-the-iphone-6-were-actually-better-watch-it-apple-lovers/
    Check it out guys. Save your money instead spending on something that is not worth it, use it for a good purpose.

  14. Richard Anderson - 10 years ago

    Tim cook has said in his Charlie Rose interview that some information has been submitted to the NSA but only when Apple has had too. Apparently less than 250 requests have been made but he can’t say an exact figure because he is prohibited by the NSA.

    I think the letter back’s up his views on privacy. the settings have always been around but not always highlighted. the efforts being made are good and if I have anything to hide, I would have it or access it from my phone, mac or anything else for that matter.

    • Richard Anderson - 10 years ago

      Sorry for typos, didn’t mean to press send and I can’t edit! :(

      • chrisl84 - 10 years ago

        The lack of edit capability really makes 9to5 comment system of choice a joke….not to mention the threads only go three replys deep.

  15. John Smith - 10 years ago

    I think he has got this right.

    I like google services – gmail and it’s app are great – but I just don’t use them because I don’t want everything I do scanned ‘on sending, on receiving, and at rest’ by a for profit corporation who offer no serious commitment to my privacy. Data such as other people’s phone number in my contacts is not mine to give away. No matter how much google try to deflect attention with BS about defending me from the NSA, in reality the only people making use of anything I would send on gmail is google.

    At the moment I’m using Outllook.com for personal/non-business mail, due to their privacy policies. (Can’t use iCloud mail as my most recent tablet is Samsung)

    Privacy is a credible criteria in my choice behaviour.

  16. Oh please… Just because you vow to become more transparent about how you collect data doesn’t mean you are any better than Google. I’m not defending Google, they’re both disgusting in slightly different ways.

    I guess the security talk is just damage control after the revelations that iCloud had such an easy exploit. I don’t believe for a second Apple cares what happens to my data, even if there is no backdoor they’ll turn it over to the NSA the second they ask. I’m glad they say there isn’t a backdoor, but all we have to go on is Tim Cook’s word.

  17. Aparrently the randomization only works when location services are off AND you have turned off 3G/4G network.
    Who does that?

    http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/26/more-details-on-how-ios-8s-mac-address-randomization-feature-works-and-when-it-doesnt/