Tim Cook says data privacy is a basic human right

[Guest John Callaham]

Apple CEO Tim Cook once again reiterates his and the company's views on privacy.

 

In the second of a two-part interview, Cook stated that everyone should have the right to keep their personal data private, no matter what others might believe. From Telegraph:

 

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.

 

Cook doesn't believe that governments need access to private information to combat terrorists.:

 

"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."

 

Even with the rise of paying for goods and services digitally, as with the company's own Apple Pay system, Cook says that we don't have to give up our privacy. That's why the company doesn't collect data from any Apple Pay transaction.

 

"Could we make money from knowing about this? Of course. Do you want us to do that that? No. Would it be in our value system to do that? No. We've designed [our system] to be private and for it to be secure."

 

Cook has previously said that if you're not paying for something, you're what's being sold. It appears Apple is going to keep hammering this point home, and making it part of their competitive strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

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