Watch Tim Cook’s full Brussels keynote blasting Big Tech’s abuse of user privacy

Wednesday, Tim Cook gave an incredibly passionate keynote address at the 40th International Conference of Data Protection in addition to Privacy Commissioners inwards Brussels that took us past times surprise. In it, the CEO of Apple vehemently defended privacy every bit a key human right, called for a comprehensive federal privacy constabulary inwards the US, warned most the dangers of AI in addition to blasted Silicon Valley engineering scientific discipline companies for their sweeping abuse of user privacy.

Weaponizing our likes, dislikes in addition to fears

The CEO reiterated the familiar talking points inwards price of Apple’s commitment to privacy.

He drove his message habitation past times insisting that algorithms which procedure our likes, shares, wants, needs, fears, desires in addition to thus forth are existence used to deliver detailed user profiles that are sold in addition to transferred betwixt companies who care for the user every bit a product.

Every day, billions of dollars alter hands in addition to countless decisions are made on the ground of our likes in addition to dislikes, our friends in addition to families, our relationships in addition to conversations, our wishes in addition to fears, our hopes in addition to dreams. These scraps of data, each i harmless plenty on its own, are carefully assembled, synthesized, traded in addition to sold.

“Your profile is thus run through algorithms that tin serve upwards increasingly extreme content, pounding our harmless preferences into hardened convictions,” he underscored.

“This is surveillance”

In his fiery keynote address, the CEO of Apple has denounced the electrical flow province of information collection in addition to called it “surveillance” inwards no ambiguous terms.

Here’s that quote:

We shouldn’t sugarcoat the consequences. This is surveillance. And these stockpiles of personal information serve entirely to enrich the companies that collect them. This should brand us really uncomfortable. It should unsettle us.”

He thus mounted the most stinging prepare on yet on tech giants similar Facebook in addition to Google without naming them, likening their occupation organization of selling ads against personal information to a “data industrial complex” inwards which private information is “weaponized against us amongst armed services efficiency.”

Here’s some other interesting quote:

Platforms in addition to algorithms that promised to improve our lives tin magnify our worst human tendencies. Rogue actors in addition to fifty-fifty governments receive got taken payoff of user trust to deepen divisions, incite violence in addition to fifty-fifty undermine our shared feel of what is truthful in addition to what is false. This crisis is real. It is non imagined or exaggerated or crazy.

Follow along for the total Cook keynote.

Cook’s user privacy verbalise inwards Brussels

Watch the total keynote address inwards the video below.

Don’t receive got the fourth dimension to sentinel the video inwards full?

Glad you lot asked, here’s the text of Cook’s spoken communication inwards its entirety.

Good morning.

It is an honour to live hither amongst you lot today inwards this grand hall, a room that represents what is possible when people of unlike backgrounds, histories in addition to philosophies come upwards together to construct something bigger than themselves.

I am deeply grateful to our hosts. I want to recognize Ventsislav Karadjov for his service in addition to leadership. And it’s a truthful privilege to live introduced past times his co-host, a statesman I admire greatly, Giovanni Butarelli.

Now Italy has produced to a greater extent than than its part of keen leaders in addition to world servants. Machiavelli taught us how leaders tin acquire away amongst evil deeds in addition to Dante showed us what happens when they acquire caught.

Giovanni has done something really different. Through his values, his dedication, his thoughtful work, Giovanni, his predecessor Peter Hustinx—and all of you—have prepare an illustration for the world. We are deeply grateful.

We demand you lot to maintain making progress—now to a greater extent than than ever. Because these are transformative times. Around the world, from Copenhagen to Chennai to Cupertino, novel technologies are driving breakthroughs inwards humanity’s greatest mutual projects. From preventing in addition to fighting disease, to curbing the effects of climate change, to ensuring every someone has access to information in addition to economical opportunity.

At the same time, nosotros regard vividly—painfully—how engineering scientific discipline tin damage rather than help. Platforms in addition to algorithms that promised to improve our lives tin really magnify our worst human tendencies. Rogue actors in addition to fifty-fifty governments receive got taken payoff of user trust to deepen divisions, incite violence in addition to fifty-fifty undermine our shared feel of what is truthful in addition to what is false.

This crisis is real. It is non imagined or exaggerated or crazy. And those of us who believe inwards technology’s potential for practiced must non shrink from this moment.

Now, to a greater extent than than ever—as leaders of governments, every bit decision-makers inwards occupation organization in addition to every bit citizens—we must enquire ourselves a key question: What form of ground do nosotros want to alive in?

I’m hither today because nosotros hope to operate amongst you lot every bit partners inwards answering this question.

At Apple, nosotros are optimistic most technology’s awesome potential for good. But nosotros know that it won’t come about on its own. Every day, nosotros operate to infuse the devices nosotros brand amongst the humanity that makes us. As I’ve said before, engineering scientific discipline is capable of doing keen things. But it doesn’t want to do keen things. It doesn’t want anything. That role takes all of us.

That’s why I believe that our missions are thus closely aligned. As Giovanni puts it, nosotros must deed to ensure that engineering scientific discipline is designed in addition to developed to serve humankind in addition to non the other manner around.

We at Apple believe that privacy is a key human right. But nosotros also recognize that non everyone sees things every bit nosotros do. In a way, the want to lay profits over privacy is zip new.

As far dorsum every bit 1890, futurity Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis published an article inwards the Harvard Law Review, making the instance for a “Right to Privacy” inwards the United States.

He warned: ‘Gossip is no longer the resources of the idle in addition to of the vicious, but has perish a trade.’

Today that merchandise has exploded into a information industrial complex. Our ain information—from the everyday to the deeply personal—is existence weaponized against us amongst armed services efficiency.

Every day, billions of dollars alter hands in addition to countless decisions are made on the ground of our likes in addition to dislikes, our friends in addition to families, our relationships in addition to conversations, our wishes in addition to fears, our hopes in addition to dreams.

These scraps of data, each i harmless plenty on its own, are carefully assembled, synthesized, traded in addition to sold.

Taken to its extreme, this procedure creates an enduring digital profile in addition to lets companies know you lot ameliorate than you lot may know yourself. Your profile is thus run through algorithms that tin serve upwards increasingly extreme content, pounding our harmless preferences into hardened convictions. If dark-green is your favorite color, you lot may observe yourself reading a lot of articles—or watching a lot of videos—about the insidious threat from people who similar orange.

In the intelligence almost every day, nosotros deport witness to the harmful—even deadly—effects of these narrowed ground views.

We shouldn’t sugarcoat the consequences. This is surveillance. And these stockpiles of personal information serve entirely to enrich the companies that collect them.

This should brand us really uncomfortable. It should unsettle us. And it illustrates the importance of our shared operate in addition to the challenges soundless ahead of us.

Fortunately this twelvemonth you’ve shown the ground that practiced policy in addition to political volition tin come upwards together to protect the rights of everyone. We should celebrate the transformative operate of the European institutions tasked amongst the successful implementation of the GDPR.

We also celebrate the novel steps taken, non entirely hither inwards Europe, but around the world. In Singapore, Japan, Brazil, New Zealand in addition to many to a greater extent than nations, regulators are bespeak tough questions in addition to crafting effective reforms.

It is fourth dimension for the residual of the world—including my habitation country—to follow your lead.

We at Apple are inwards total back upwards of a comprehensive federal privacy constabulary inwards the United States. There in addition to everywhere, it should live rooted inwards 4 essential rights.

First, the right to receive got personal information minimized. Companies should challenge themselves to de-identify client data—or non to collect it inwards the kickoff place.

Second, the right to knowledge. Users should e'er know what information is existence collected in addition to what it is existence collected for. This is the entirely manner to empower users to create upwards one's hear what collection is legitimate in addition to what isn’t. Anything less is a sham.

Third, the right to access. Companies should recognize that information belongs to users in addition to nosotros should all arrive slowly for users to acquire a re-create of, right in addition to delete their personal data.

And fourth, the right to security. Security is foundational to trust in addition to all other privacy rights.

Now, at that topographic point are those who would prefer I hadn’t said all of that. Some oppose whatsoever shape of privacy legislation. Others volition endorse reform inwards public, in addition to thus resist in addition to undermine it behind unopen doors.

They may say to you, ‘Our companies volition never accomplish technology’s truthful potential if they are constrained amongst privacy regulation.’ But this notion isn’t simply wrong, it is destructive.

Technology’s potential is—and e'er must be—rooted inwards the faith people receive got inwards it, inwards the optimism in addition to inventiveness that it stirs inwards the hearts of individuals, inwards its hope in addition to capacity to brand the ground a ameliorate place.

It’s fourth dimension to aspect upwards facts. We volition never accomplish technology’s truthful potential without the total faith in addition to confidence of the people who occupation it.

At Apple, honour for privacy—and a salubrious suspicion of authority—have e'er been inwards our bloodstream. Our kickoff computers were built past times misfits, tinkerers in addition to rebels—not inwards a laboratory or a board room, but inwards a suburban garage. We introduced the Macintosh amongst a famous TV promotion channeling George Orwell’s ‘1984,’ a alert of what tin come about when engineering scientific discipline becomes a tool of ability in addition to loses touching amongst humanity.

And manner dorsum inwards 2010, Steve Jobs said inwards no uncertain terms: ‘Privacy agency people know what they’re signing upwards for, inwards plainly language—and repeatedly.’

It’s worth remembering the foresight in addition to courage it took to brand that statement. When nosotros designed this device nosotros knew it could lay to a greater extent than personal information inwards your steal than most of us maintain inwards our homes. And at that topographic point was enormous pressure level on Steve in addition to Apple to curvature our values in addition to to freely part this information. But nosotros refused to compromise. In fact, we’ve entirely deepened our commitment inwards the decade since.

From hardware breakthroughs that encrypt fingerprints in addition to faces securely—and only—on your device to uncomplicated in addition to powerful notifications that brand clear to every user exactly what they’re sharing in addition to when they are sharing it.

We aren’t absolutists, in addition to nosotros don’t claim to receive got all the answers. Instead, nosotros e'er elbow grease to render to that uncomplicated question: What form of ground do nosotros want to alive in?

At every phase of the creative process, thus in addition to now, nosotros engage inwards an open, honest in addition to robust ethical struggle most the products nosotros brand in addition to the touching on they volition have. That’s simply a role of our culture.

We don’t do it because nosotros receive got to. We do it because nosotros ought to. The values behind our products are every bit of import to us every bit whatsoever feature.

We sympathize that the dangers are real—from cyber-criminals to rogue acre states. We’re non willing to move out our users to fend for themselves. And we’ve shown we’ll defend those principles when challenged.

Those values—that commitment to thoughtful struggle in addition to transparency—they’re entirely going to acquire to a greater extent than important. As progress speeds up, these things should proceed to ground us in addition to connect us, kickoff in addition to foremost, to the people nosotros serve.

Artificial intelligence is i expanse I think a lot about. Clearly it’s on the minds of many of my peers every bit well.

At its core, this engineering scientific discipline promises to larn from people individually to do goodness us all. Yet advancing AI past times collecting huge personal profiles is laziness, non efficiency. For artificial intelligence to live really smart, it must honour human values, including privacy.

If nosotros acquire this wrong, the dangers are profound.

We tin accomplish both keen artificial intelligence in addition to keen privacy standards. It’s non entirely a possibility, it is a responsibility. In the pursuit of artificial intelligence, nosotros should non sacrifice the humanity, inventiveness in addition to ingenuity that define our human intelligence.

And at Apple, nosotros never will.

In the mid-19th century, the keen American author Henry David Thoreau institute himself thus fed upwards amongst the measurement in addition to alter of industrial gild that he moved to a cabin inwards the woods past times Walden Pond.

Call it the kickoff digital cleanse.

Yet fifty-fifty there, where he hoped to observe a fleck of peace, he could hear a distant clatter in addition to whistle of a steam engine passing by. ‘We do non ride on the railroad,’ he said. ‘It rides upon us.’

Those of us who are fortunate plenty to operate inwards engineering scientific discipline receive got an enormous responsibility. It is non to delight every grumpy Thoreau out there. That’s an unreasonable measure in addition to we’ll never run across it.

We are responsible, however, for recognizing that the devices nosotros brand in addition to the platforms nosotros construct receive got real, lasting, fifty-fifty permanent effects on the individuals in addition to communities who occupation them.

We must never halt bespeak ourselves, what form of ground do nosotros want to alive in?

The reply to that query must non live an afterthought, it should live our principal concern.

We at Apple can—and do—provide the really best to our users piece treating their most personal information similar the precious cargo that it is. And if nosotros tin do it, thus everyone tin do it.

Fortunately, nosotros receive got your illustration earlier us.

Thank you lot for your work, for your commitment to the possibility of human-centered technology, in addition to for your occupation solid belief that our best days are soundless ahead of us.

Thank you lot really much.

These are admittedly some of the strongest privacy-related comments from Cook to date.

Jobs nailed user privacy inwards 2010

It’s interesting to me that, inwards addressing members of the European Union parliament, the CEO of Apple quoted his erstwhile boss in addition to mentor, Steve Jobs, who nearly a decade agone nailed user privacy in addition to gave the most prescient Definition of it to date.

“Privacy agency people know what they’re signing upwards for, inwards plainly language, in addition to repeatedly,” Jobs said inwards 2010. “I believe people are smart. Some people want to part to a greater extent than than other people do. Ask them. Ask them every time,” he added.

“It’s worth remembering the foresight in addition to courage it took to brand that statement,” Cook said.

He went on to praise the successful implementation of the novel privacy constabulary inwards Europe known every bit GDPR, proverb his society was supportive of a similar privacy legislation inwards the US. “We at Apple are inwards total back upwards of a comprehensive federal privacy constabulary inwards the US,” he said.

The dangers of AI

He warned of profound dangers if AI falls into the incorrect hands. “Advancing AI past times collecting huge personal profiles is laziness, non efficiency,” he noted.

Two years ago, Apple started implementing differential privacy inwards its operating systems to aid improve its services without collecting huge swaths of user-identifiable data.

Having watched the Brussels keynote, what do you lot think how did Cook do?

Let us know inwards the comments!

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