Apple News: CEO Tim Cook Criticizes Data Collection, Endorses US Privacy Laws In Keynote Address

Apple CEO Tim Cook once again affirmed his commitment to data privacy concerns, expressing full-fledged support on Wednesday for comprehensive, federal data legislation in the United States at the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Brussels.

In the keynote address, Cook criticized the data collection practices of other major tech firms, as he has done multiple times in 2018.

“Our own information, from the everyday to the deeply personal, is being weaponized against us with military efficiency,” Cook said. “Every day, billions of dollars change hands and countless decisions are made on the basis of our likes and dislikes, our friends and families, our relationships and conversations, our wishes and fears, our hopes and dreams.”

Cook took time to praise Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR), which the E.U. started enforcing earlier this year. The law guarantees E.U. citizens more control over their personal data and requires greater transparency from companies like Facebook and Google.

The United States does not have a law like GDPR at the federal level, but executives from Apple, Google, Facebook and others, recently expressed support for the idea.

Some of Cook’s comments in the keynote address came across as possible jabs at Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg’s social network has come under fire in 2018 for mishandling user data, whether it was for the Cambridge Analytica incident or a recent hack that affected nearly 30 million users.

“We see vividly, painfully how technically can harm, rather than help. Platforms and algorithms that promise to improve our lives can actually magnify our worst human tendencies,” Cook said. “Rogue actors and even governments have taken advantage of user trust to deepen divisions, incite violence and even undermine our shared sense of what is true and what is false.”

It would not be the first time Cook seemingly criticized Facebook.

Apple has maintained for some time that data it collects about users stay on those devices and are not stored on vulnerable servers. That includes things like thumbprint data for iPhones. The company recently released a tool that allows users to see all data Apple has about them, and even alter or delete it.