Tim Cook on Privacy


Tim Cook stat down with NPR to discuss Apple's position on privacy. The full interview can be heard at the link above.

We do think that people want us to help them keep their lives private. We see that privacy is a fundamental human right that people have. We are going to do everything that we can to help maintain that trust. ...

Our view on this comes from a values point of view, not from a commercial interest point of view. Our values are that we do think that people have a right to privacy. And that our customers are not our products. We don't collect a lot of your data and understand every detail about your life. That's just not the business that we are in.

When Microsoft was Apple's biggest rival, Apple positioned itself as the free-thinking alternative for creatives. With Google as its biggest rival, Apple is positioning itself as a trusted vendor for your data.

I think that has a major influence on their values as it would be easy to leverage customer data to improve products and build partnerships. In that respect, I would say there is a commercial interest. Not that I think that's in any way bad, just that Apple's vision is deliberate and strategic.