Facebook’s former security chief criticizes Tim Cook’s comments on privacy

Facebook’s old principal safety officeholder is calling out Tim Cook for his recent spoken communication near privacy together with what he calls the steady ascension of the “data industrial complex.” While Alex Stamos says he to a greater extent than ofttimes than non agrees amongst what the Apple CEO said during his Wed spoken communication at the European Parliament inwards Brussels, Belgium, he suggests Cooks is mayhap existence hypocritical because of his company’s dealings amongst China.

On Twitter, Stamos said, “I concord amongst almost everything Tim Cook said inwards his privacy spoken communication today, which is why it is together with thence sorry to encounter the media credulously roofing his statements without the context of Apple’s actions inwards China.” This was followed past times at to the lowest degree 10 additional tweets where he explained what he liked together with didn’t similar near Cook’s comments.

Stamos, who had stints at Yahoo together with Artemis Internet, left Facebook before this twelvemonth afterward 3 years on the job. According to TechCrunch, Stamos left Facebook after disagreeing “considerably amongst the tack Facebook had taken inwards disclosure together with investigation of its purpose inwards hosting state-sponsored disinformation seeded past times Russian intelligence.”

On the positive side, Stamos say he agrees amongst Cook’s proposition that the United States of America needs stronger privacy laws. He likewise believes companies similar Google together with Facebook involve to “collect less information together with minimize to a greater extent than often.”

Unfortunately, he says companies similar Apple seem less concerned near user privacy together with protection when they operate inwards China, the second largest consumer market inwards the world.

Stamos explains, “China is an ethical blind location for many inwards tech: We ignore the working weather condition nether which our beautiful devices are made, the censorship together with surveillance necessary to send apps there.” Further, he condemns Apple for its decision before this year to mitt over the keys to iCloud information inwards the communist nation. The change, which was enacted inwards January, was made to comply amongst Chinese police pull that said client information collected on the China mainland must locomote stored locally.

On this point, Stamos notes, “Apple needs to come upwards build clean on how iCloud plant inwards China together with halt setting damaging precedents for how willing American companies volition locomote to service the internal safety desires of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Are they both right?

It shouldn’t come upwards equally a surprise that someone similar Stamos went afterward Cook next his remarks. The Apple CEO, without naming either Facebook or Google, used most of his spoken communication at the 40th International Conference of Data Protection together with Privacy Commissioners to nothing inwards on those companies for how they collect together with keep user data.

During the speech, Cook explained, “These threads of data, each 1 harmless plenty on its own, are carefully assembled, synthesized, traded, together with sold. Taken to its extreme this procedure creates an enduring digital profile, together with lets companies know you lot meliorate than you lot may know yourself.”

In many respects, Cook together with Stamos are both right.

Yes, to a greater extent than needs to locomote done inwards the United States of America together with elsewhere when it comes to protecting together with maintaining personal data. At the same time, Stamos is right that companies similar Apple direct hold ofttimes looked the other mode when it comes to China, which has often been criticized past times organizations similar Human Rights Watch for how it treats its citizens.

There’s no doubtfulness Cook’s comments hitting a nerve, together with I would hold off we’ll locomote seeing farther reactions inwards the coming days.

Is Stamos right to criticize Cook over his comments? Let us know below.

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