In the second half of The Telegraph’s interview with Tim Cook, Apple CEO Tim Cook has reaffirmed his position on privacy. Cook says that whilst currently consumers do not understand the ramifications of sharing their data with third-parties, “one day they will”.
Moreover, Cook openly objects to governments that say data sharing is required to combat crime and terrorism. There has been pressure for tech companies to offer back-doors into encryption mechanisms, but a clear implication of this interview is that Apple will strongly oppose this view. Cook describes privacy as a ‘basic human right’.
Cook disagrees fundamentally. “None of us should accept that the government or a company or anybody should have access to all of our private information. This is a basic human right. We all have a right to privacy. We shouldn’t give it up. We shouldn’t give in to scare-mongering or to people who fundamentally don’t understand the details.”
Although Cook believes that terrorism is bad (“these people shouldn’t exist”), he rejects the idea that privacy policies needs to be weakened to support counter-terrorism efforts. Cook says that removing layers of encryption will mean that the public’s private information will “inevitably be taken” and that terrorist effort will encrypt their own communications regardless of company oversight.
“Terrorists will encrypt. They know what to do. If we don’t encrypt, the people we affect [by cracking down on privacy] are the good people. They are the 99.999pc of people who are good.”
The interview concludes with Cook reiterating what Apple’s stance is in this area. “You are not our product”, in regard to health data, purchase history (referring to Apple Pay) and even ‘relatively minor pieces of information’ which can be built up into a ‘trove of data’, according to Cook.
“We don’t make money selling your information to somebody else. We don’t think you want that. We don’t want to do that. It’s not in our values system to do that. Could we make a lot of money doing that? Of course. But life isn’t about money, life is about doing the right thing. This has been a core value of our company for a long time.”
You can read the full interview on The Telegraph’s website. The first half of the newspaper’s interview was posted yesterday and covered some new details about the Apple Watch.
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And this is reason #1 why I prefer iOS over Android.
I think exactly like him! Terrorists haven’t just an iPhone like everybody, they encrypt, use secured WiFi, etc… NSA doesn’t need of our private informations, except to control all the world…
I couldn’t agree more, thank you Tim Cook!
Tim is just slamming Google for creating a substantial dossier on every Google customer. Fortunately, Google only shares your formerly private data with Google partners, employees, contractors, providers, or others. Or as required by law.
It’s that last “as required by law” that’s the sticking point though isn’t it? Google will give your information to anyone in the government or law enforcement merely IF THEY ASK. Read the details of their usr agreement and yo will find that this is the case.
Apple on the other hand, puts itself in a position where they don’t *have* the information to give away in the first place, and in cases where they *do* have information, their user agreement explicitly states that they will only give it to law enforcement, if they ask, IF THE ASKING IS LEGAL, and if they agree with the asking and the idea that it was a legal request. All other requests are rejected.
It’s a very subtle, but very real and important detail. It’s basically the same level of proof required to get a search warrant from a judge. The law doesn’t need automatic unfettered access, they need to CONVINCE the legal holder of the information to give it up based on a reasoned argument, instead of just an “ask” like Google does.
I think standardpull was pulling our leg a little — “Google partners, employees, contractors, providers, or others. Or as required by law” doesn’t leave a lot of folks out.
200% agree, NSA are just using terrorism as an excuse to control us, and the proof they are just pressing Apple proves than other platforms are completely control friendly for NSA. Tim Cook spoke nice and that is why i’m still on IOS since i switched from android to it
I say BS!
If Apple really truly believe on this, iOS would have more and easier “Private Cloud” features as in holding your data on your locel hard drives.
Assume your privacy is gone once your sensitive information is on a remote server.
It only takes one app for your privacy be gone, not matter what OS you are on.
I’d add that is true that Apple seems to respect privacy, more that Google, However the sad reality is that Apple sense of bringing more privacy is like an illusion.
Apple would have to be more aggressive on the Privacy front to make it harder to other to tap on your data.
This thing of Privacy It is hard, if not futile or impossible.
Don’t be silly, if you want, just don’t use iCloud. And i prefer having my stuff hardly encrypted in Apple’s cloud than in local hard drives in my home exposed to my almost not protected internet connection
At least apple has one thing going for them if anything. Their servers have never been breached by hacking or malware. More than other companies can say. As long as that holds true there is no reason to doubt the absolute privacy and security apple offers. I trust my cloud storage of photos and documents is in the right place. My personal data is Encrypted and stored, and not rifled through to target ads at me. Sounds good to me. It’s like nuclear power, solves all your problems as long as there is no meltdown. And as long as Apple never has their “meltdown” I trust them.
You know, all this supposedly “Privacy” can go away in a matter seconds it is just an iOS or App “upgrade” away.
Who in the real world has time to read all the changelogs and legal disclosures that comes to us on a daily basis ?!. Be honest !
It is almost impossible to keep your privacy no matter what OS you use if you know how all this works.
Trust me I have try it and is futile.
However I commend Apple though for bringing this to the discussion, if only for marketing purposes.
Totally agree
Apple actively screens their apps before approval for malware, unlike Google, which has over 100 apps with Malware.
I remember back in the days when 64bit encryption was just about to become mainstream, there was a Government Bill that said all encryption software should have a backdoor built into it, so security agencies could decrypt any files they needed to.
If your encryption software doesn’t have such a backdoor, it’s probably illegal. :-/
Dear Mr. Volt,
I disagree 110%
Apple’s CEO says privacy is a basic human right. Let’s hope Apple upholds it consistently.
so the government is the bad guy. No solutions offered by Cook.
We would do well to remember too that terrorism isn’t a new thing, and that using today’s terrorism to defend a sweeping clawback on privacy rights is itself completely illogical.
The perception that terrorism is “worse” today than it has been previously is also suspect. The very year (2001) that the world trade centre went down and all the draconian legislation was enacted in the USA and elsewhere, was actually a “low” year in terms of losses to terrorism world-wide, both by number of people killed and by dollar value of assets destroyed.
There were many years in the 1970’s for example when many more people were killed each year, many more dollars were lost, and many more kidnappings, plane crashes and bombings occurred.
The real difference in 2001 was only that the USA was attacked (as opposed to other countries), and attacked in a very public way. It’s not necessarily true that there is “more” terrorism today than in the 1970s, and there were no draconian regulations enacted to fight it back then.
If a plane blew up every once in a while, it was considered to be a horrible tragedy but nothing more. No one suggested strip searches, spy cameras, and far reaching extra-legal powers. People were smarter, stronger, braver, and far more “free” back then.
I’m not an American, but I think it’s such a joke that you have clearly and purposely *abrogated* your entire Constitution (a document that you endlessly waffle on and throw in people’s faces usually), and yet no one cares or has done thing one to change it. A person is more free in Canada, or Europe than they are in the USA today and that’s a fact.
When you consider that hackers can breach ANY connected computer at will – including military and security services, You realise that Cook’s speech is null and void. There’s no such thing as a secure online facility anywhere in the world. If the NSA wants your information, they’ll help themselves to it, with or without Apple’s blessing.
The Governments of the civilised world have the best hackers in the world on speed dial.
Has the NSA ever been hacked? Or the military? Or any .mil TLD for that matter?
That’s an affirmative! Military personnel’s names, addresses and personal contact details have been released and their family’s threatened by ISIS.
Damn ISIS. World would be a better place without ISIS.
“You are not our product”, in regard to health data, purchase history (referring to Apple Pay) and even ‘relatively minor pieces of information’ which can be built up into a ‘trove of data’, according to Cook.
If this is true, why is our purchase history of apps, iBooks, and iTunes forever attached to our user accounts? If we are not your product, our purchase history should be in our control and we should be allowed to permantly delete the record of any purchase or download.
Another area where it appears we are Apple’s Products, is our credit card data. Apple does not take Apple Pay for purchases in the App Stores and iTunes. Instead we must maintain our credit card information on Apples servers instead of using Apple Pay. The only reason I can think of for why Apple would not take Apple Pay is because it thinks our credit card information is a valuable product it does not want to give up.
Of course you are the product, that so many people think Apple actually cares about them is laughable. Apple only cares about the money. Nothing else.
Lmao, your privacy sure is good in the hands of this g4y.
And by the way NSA is laughing all the way…
128 is just pathetically weak.
Of course, tough, when you are using mainstream PCs with hardware basically of the same speed (with improvements of only 10 times + – , and fuck you you morons who try to have any problem with this point)
compared to NSA (maybe even quantum?) PCs, that crack all encryption within seconds… ffs.
Wut?
And besides – what privacy do you have that you should worry about?!
If you call privacy hiding a few pirated things and a porn history, then i must pitty you, because you sure are overworrying.
I do not have any “serious” privacy data that i should be concerned with.
Only people who do are basically corporations. And NSA means SECURITY AGENCY – to protect (even if all you idiots who are going to reply to this – are so stupid and brainwashed to think otherwise)
THE PEOPLE – including corporations.
________
And of course, we should be worried about the real threat: NSA employees spying on you.. uggh..
Get real morons. Nobody cares about NSA anymore. Only press, that still thinks (just because it ranked high in google a few years ago) that the topic is still popular.