Apple CEO Tim Cook on privacy: It's become a 'crisis'

Apple CEO Tim Cook called online privacy a "crisis" in an interview with ABC News, reaffirming the company's stance on privacy and privacy.

"Privacy in itself has become a crisis," Cook told ABC's Diane Sawyer. "It's about that proportion – a crisis."

Google and Facebook, Apple's business is not focused on advertising, and it does not benefit from collecting data to improve ad targeting.

"You are not our product," he said. "Our products are iPhones and iPads." We wanna help you keep it private and keep it safe.

Cook cited the vast amount of personal information available when explaining why privacy has become such an important issue to address. "The people who are on the internet know a lot more about you than if you look in your window," he said. "A lot more."

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Cook is known to be a vocal advocate for consumer privacy. In January, he published an op-ed in Time calling for government regulation that would provide more transparency for consumers. He also urged for a crackdown on data brokers. Before that, he appeared on Vice News Tonight and voiced his support for government regulation.

Apple does not benefit from gathering data about consumers, as companies with booming advertising businesses would. But it does make money from its partnership with Google's Safari browser. Apple and Google have not yet agreed, but Goldman Sachs analysts estimated that Apple could spend as much as $ 12 billion in 2019.

Sawyer pointed out that Apple profits from its deal with Google, which has come under scrutiny regarding its data collection policies and privacy concerns. Cook said it works with Google "because we believe it's the best browser."

Although Cook has described it as a crisis, he added that he believes it's a "fixable" problem. "And we just have to, like everything else, when we get together it's amazing what we can do."

ABC News, saying he does not want consumers using their iPhones too much. "But I do not want to use the product a lot," he said. "In fact, if you're using it a lot, there's probably something we should do to make your use more productive."

The comments come back from The New York Times that the App Store is following the lead of the App Store following the release of its website for the iPhone in September. Apple then published a statement saying it was removed because they were using a technology known as mobile device management, or MDM, which is intended for businesses that need to handle sensitive data on employee devices.

Cook told ABC News he's open to suggestions from parents when it comes to screen time and parental controls, saying that it's "something that we need to fix."