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

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke this morning at the Computers, Privacy and Data Protection virtual conference, where he discussed Facebook’s business model and Apple’s upcoming application of transparency of application tracking, then he developed part of his speech in an interview with Fast company.

Cook said privacy is “one of the biggest issues of the century” and it’s important to think deeply about how “to leave something for the next generation that is way better than the situation. current. “Cook said privacy” should be weighed “like climate change, another major problem the world is facing.

On the subject of why people should care about their privacy, even when there is nothing to hide, Cook said he tries to make people think about living in a world of constant surveillance, which is what ‘Apple did this morning with the release of a document. called “A Day in the Life of Your Data” which details how third-party companies track user data across websites and apps.

“What changes do you make in your own behavior then? What are you doing less? What are you not doing anymore? What are you not so curious about if you know that every time you are on the web, you look at things differently, by exploring different things, are you going to end up tightening up more and more? This kind of world is not a world that none of us should aspire to.

“And so I think most people, when they think about it like that … start to think quickly, ‘Well, what am I looking for? I’m looking for this and that. I don’t really want to. let people know that ‘I’m watching this and that, because I’m just curious about what it is’ or whatever. So it’s this change in behavior that’s happening that’s one of the things that concerns me. deeply, and I think everyone should care.

Cook also pointed out that not all “Big Tech” companies are the same, and he said he was concerned about the “large-scale categorization” of giving large companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple one label. “I try to encourage people to think on a deeper level than that and to think about the companies themselves and their business models and the way they behave, etc., what their values ​​are,” a he declared.

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

Fast companyCook’s full interview also touches on technology and extremism, privacy law and regulation, and the future of privacy in tech, and it’s worth reading.