Apple CEO Tim Cook: privacy is ‘one of the most important issues of the century’

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at the Virtual Computers, Privacy and Data Protection conference this morning, where he discussed Facebook’s business model and Apple’s upcoming enforcement of App Tracking Transparency, and then went on to elaborate on part of his speech in an interview with Fast company.

Cook said privacy is “one of the most important issues of the century” and it is important to “think deeply about it” to find out how “to leave something for the next generation that is much better than the current one. situation.” Cook said privacy “needs to be weighed” along with climate change, another major problem facing the world.

On the topic of why people should care about their privacy even when there’s nothing to hide, Cook said he is trying to persuade people to live in a world of constant surveillance, something Apple did this morning with the release of a document called “A Day in the Life of Your Data” that describes how third-party companies track user data across websites and apps.

“What changes do you make in your own behavior? What are you doing less about? What are you not doing anymore? What are you not so curious about anymore when you know that every time you are on the Internet, you have different things, different exploring things, you will be trapping yourself more and more? That kind of world is not one that any of us should aspire to.

“And so I think most people, when they feel that way … they quickly start to think, ‘Well, what am I looking for? I’m looking for this and that. I don’t really want people to know me “I’m looking at this and that because I’m just curious about what it is or whatever. So it’s this behavioral change that’s taking place, that’s one of the things I’m really concerned about, and I think everyone worry about it.

Cook also pointed out that not all “Big Tech” companies are the same, and said he is concerned about the “broad categorization” of giving big companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple all one label. “I try to encourage people to think one level deeper than that and think about the companies themselves and their business models and how they behave and so on and so forth – what their values ​​are,” he said.

Cook was asked if he thinks artificial intelligence is a threat and how it ranks in comparison to privacy, saying that “both” can be used negatively and “amplified by technology.” Cook said ethical AI and ethical data privacy and data collection are both important issues that “must be worked on”.

Fast companyThe full Cook interview also touches on technology and extremism, privacy law and regulation, and the future of privacy in technology, and it’s worth a read.