Apple doesn't want to share your private details, says Cook

Tim Cook
Tim Cook

Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, has spoken out on data privacy and called out other Silicon Vally companies for gathering information and attempting to monetize it.

Speaking remotely, while receiving the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Freedom Award, Cook hammered home his message of respecting people's privacy that other firms haven't done in the past.

Cook said, "I'm speaking to you from Silicon Valley where some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information.

"They're gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it. We think that's wrong. And it's not the kind of company that Apple wants to be. So we don't want your data."

Private party

In a time when Apple has launched applications such as HealthKit and HomeKit that gather data from areas of people's life like we've never seen before, reassurance it won't be used for advertising purposes is certainly appreciated.

But Cook isn't just offended by monetizing your personal data - he called it "a chilling effect on our first amendment rights, and undermine our county's founding principles."

His Silicon Valley targets include the likes of Google and Facebook who have been using data to target advertising for quite some time.

Via Mashable

James Peckham

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.