Tim Cook: Our Data Is Being 'Weaponized Against Us'

Apple CEO Tim Cook is calling on the US to pass a federal digital privacy law to stop the tech industry from mining people's personal data. His fear: That today's data-collection practices are fueling platforms that are "magnifying our worst tendencies," Cook said in apparent allusion to Facebook and Google's YouTube.

"Our own information, from the everyday to the deeply personal, is being weaponized against us with military efficiency," he said in a speech at a privacy conference in Brussels on Wednesday.

Cook didn't name the offenders in his speech, but he blasted the tech industry's reliance on collecting people's personal data to run their products. "This is surveillance," he said. "And these stock piles of personal data serve only to enrich the companies that collect them."

He also accused the top internet platforms of ruining society by serving up fake news and becoming platforms to sow divisions among Americans. Facebook and YouTube, for instance, collect your data to suggest articles and videos you'll like to see. But Cook warned these recommendation engines have unintended consequences.

"Your profile is then run through algorithms that serve up increasingly extreme content, pounding our harmless preferences into hardened convictions," Cook said. "If green is your favorite color, you may find yourself reading a lot of articles or watching a lot of videos about the insidious threat from people who like orange."

Apple's CEO then praised the European Union's adoption of its own privacy law, GDPR, which took effect in May. "It is time for the rest of the world, including my home country, to follow your lead," he said.

Cook said the US should adopt a privacy law focused on four points:

1. Companies should de-identify customer data or not collect it all.
2. Users should be able to easily know what data is being collected and why.
3. Any personal data collected can be changed or deleted by the user.
4. Companies will secure their customers data.

Cook said that some in the tech industry will oppose any privacy legislation under the pretense that technology can never achieve its full potential without the data collection. He pointed to new AI-driven software algorithms, some of which are being trained by scanning people's personal data.

"Advancing AI by collecting huge personal profiles is laziness, not efficiency," he said, adding. "We will not achieve technology's true potential without the full faith and confidence of the people who use it."

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It isn't the first time Apple's CEO has talked up privacy. Earlier this year, Cook took a jab at Facebook's business over the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, which exposed millions of users' personal data to a political consultancy. Then in June, Apple announced its Safari browser was going to add a new privacy feature that'll block third-party web trackers from Facebook and others.

Of course, Apple is a hardware-focused company whereas Facebook and Google rely on advertising that is often targeted based on people's data and internet activity.

The tech industry and Congress, meanwhile, have been discussing digital privacy legislation for years.

In regards to privacy, Cook said the "crisis is real." But in a tweet, he added: "We are optimistic about technology's awesome potential for good — but we know that it won't happen on its own."

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