Discussing the dangers of businesses that collect personal user information, Apple’s CEO said, “If a business is built on misleading users, on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, it does not deserve our praise. It deserves scorn.” Cook also said that such businesses could lead to polarization, distrust of life saving vaccinations, and violence set off by extremist groups. Many of these outcomes are already being seen in the United States. Cook also spoke about Apple’s decision to protect its users’ privacy “to create ripples of positive change across the industry.”
Cook said, “At Apple, we made our choice a long time ago. We believe that ethical technology is technology that works for you. It’s technology that helps you sleep, not keeps you up. It tells you when you’ve had enough, it gives you space to create, or draw, or write or learn, not refresh just one more time. It’s technology that can fade into the background when you’re on a hike or going for a swim but is there to warn you when your heart rate spikes or help you when you’ve had a nasty fall. And with all of this, always, it’s privacy and security first, because no-one needs to trade away the rights of their users to deliver a great product.”
