Tim Cook: Users’ privacy under attack from tech giants

The chief executive of Apple has warned consumers their privacy is under attack from tech companies lulling them into a false sense of security.

Tim Cook said Silicon Valley companies are “gobbling up” everything they can learn about their customers in an attempt to sell advertising.

The approach is one Apple does not believe in, he told attendees of a dinner hosted by the Electronic Privacy Infor-mation Centre in Washington, DC.

“I’m speaking to you from Silicon Valley, where some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information, Mr Cook said.

“They’re gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetise it. We think that’s wrong. And it’s not the kind of company that Apple wants to be.”

The comments have been interpreted in some quarters as a swipe at rivals such as Facebook and Google.

Mr Cook suggested the trade-off of providing reams of data to such firms in exchange for free services is not as favourable a deal as it may seem.

Eventually, customers will realise the ramifications of allowing companies access to email, search histories, and photos, Mr Cook said.

The comments seem to indicate a clear stance on behalf of Apple with regard to the increasingly fraught area of personal privacy in the tech world.

The Apple boss has previously defended Apple’s privacy track record, claiming that it does not build a customer profile based on email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers.

Apple does, however, have an ad business of its own which it claims supports app developers who depend on it.

iAds allows companies to target customers by cross-checking customer details against other data sources.

Mr Cook has said the California-based company has never worked with any government agency to grant “back-door” access to any information.

He said allowing such access to governments could leave that information open to others too.

“If you put a key under the mat for the cops, a burglar can find it too,” Mr Cook said.