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Most large corporations love regulations. First, they can more easily absorb the increased compliance costs, squeezing out smaller competitors. Second, they have enough cash to "influence" the politicians to shape the regulations in their favor. I don't know if Tim is purposely pushing the regulatory environment in this direction, but in the end it doesn't matter.
 
Please stop with the "violation of user privacy". You're the only one to make the claim. You're the only one arguing that point. When Apple removed VPN's from the App Store, they definitely facilitated China's suppression of user privacy.

Why would you assume that I would expect something so dumb and unrealistic? Wouldn't a smarter assumption be that I would expect Cook to be more cognizant of the juxtaposition of his words regarding privacy and his actions in China that don't jibe with those words?

Funny how people expect Apple to act the same all over the world. I know globalisation lets you think its all one big planet and one world and we should all have the same values and moral standards no matter where we live. But this is a western kind of thinking, the kind of thinking that made crusades, colonialism and christian missionizing possible. Who are we to say the Chinese must have the same view on privacy? Who are we to say hey Chinese people wake up and do something about it and let us help you? Maybe they are happy the way they live? Maybe they have to find their own way and find out by themselves what is right and what is wrong.

Imagine if I would have gone to the US sheriff who arrested that girl on the Florida beach because she was topless and I would have told him to let her go because what she did was perfectly fine in Europe. He would have gotten the pepper spray out on me! LOL! Who am I to tell the backward thinking people what to do? See?

If Apple can help us here in Europe or over there in the US to have more privacy then great. Let the rest of the world do their own thing.
 
WTF
So, if a girl walks on the street in a mini skirt she asks to get raped.

That's soooo.... wrong.
You're the only one talking about rape here. I don't recall the last person who had their location data/search history sold being raped by anyone. Besides, where do you even get 'rape' from what was stated? That's a pretty extreme assumption to draw from what was stated. If a girl walks down the street in a miniskirt and someone snaps a photo of it with their phone and then uploads it to Instagram or Twitter and half a million people masturbate to it sure, but that's hardly rape and no privacy does apply to this scenario, miniskirt equals no public privacy, the same way as celebrity equals no public privacy, only the miniskirt doesn't get you paid millions of dollars and attention unless you're a Kardashian. Their are laws against rape already.

And just to clarify, by privacy what is meant is from people seeing what you're putting on display, obviously the right to invade or infringe on another's personal space is not what is being stated.
 
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Funny how people expect Apple to act the same all over the world. I know globalisation lets you think its all one big planet and one world and we should all have the same values and moral standards no matter where we live. But this is a western kind of thinking, the kind of thinking that made crusades, colonialism and christian missionizing possible. Who are we to say the Chinese must have the same view on privacy? Who are we to say hey Chinese people wake up and do something about it and let us help you? Maybe they are happy the way they live? Maybe they have to find their own way and find out by themselves what is right and what is wrong.

Imagine if I would have gone to the US sheriff who arrested that girl on the Florida beach because she was topless and I would have told him to let her go because what she did was perfectly fine in Europe. He would have gotten the pepper spray out on me! LOL! Who am I to tell the backward thinking people what to do? See?

If Apple can help us here in Europe or over there in the US to have more privacy then great. Let the rest of the world do their own thing.
Curious. Did you find something in my post that lead you to believe I was critical of China's policies? Or that I thought China should adhere to US standards? If you did, I'd love to find out what it is. If you didn't, could you please tell me why you're going on about what it is you're going on about cuz it has nothing to do with anything I posted.
 
You're the only one talking about rape here. I don't recall the last person who had their location data/search history sold being raped by anyone. Besides, where do you even get 'rape' from what was stated? That's a pretty extreme assumption to draw from what was stated. If a girl walks down the street in a miniskirt and someone snaps a photo of it with their phone and then uploads it to Instagram or Twitter and half a million people masturbate to it sure, but that's hardly rape and no privacy does apply to this scenario, miniskirt equals no public privacy, the same way as celebrity equals no public privacy, only the miniskirt doesn't get you paid millions of dollars and attention unless you're a Kardashian. Their are laws against rape already.

And just to clarify, by privacy what is meant is from people seeing what you're putting on display, obviously the right to invade or infringe on another's personal space is not what is being stated.


That was just an extreme example, let me put it another way, there are people who think they have nothing to hide if we talk about encryption, that's not the point, it's my stuff in my device and nobody has the right to look into it.
You actually said that if I leave my house door open anyone can walk in.
Here's what you said again:

If an individual doesn't take precautions to manage their own right to privacy, they do not deserve to have any. Period.

Yes, they have.
Nobody can enter your house without your consent, this is true for privacy too.

*Online privacy
If you are outside there's of course less privacy but people still have to adhere to rules.
 
Fine, but Cook should really try to stay focused on fixing the catastrophically-broken iOS App Store & making AAPL's XR cases available by Friday !

Tim, please try to stay on point.
 
Good, I agree. Our privacy needs to be protected. Obviously a great business move by Apple that protects the interests of consumers as well. I’m not sure how this will all play out for companies like Google and Facebook, but they have to be scrambling to rethink their business models for a sustainable future.


I'm expecting Google to demonetize the YT video of this speech :eek:
 
Did you notice he says “minimize” data collection and not prevent or delete personal data.
Minimize : just enough data for us to make a great profit...

Also has anyone tried the download your data feature on Apples privacy site? I feel like they have a lot more data about you than they are giving you...

I think the conspiracy thread is on another forum where they are discussing the secret room Apple built under the new campus (I think you enter by a secret staircase in the Steve Jobs theater) where they are storing the secret files they are collecting on everyone, just saying.
 
It's pretty simple. The article is about protecting users privacy and Apple's advocacy of said protections. China was brought into the conversation to highlight that Apple doesn't apply that advocacy across the board. Actions such as removing VPN's from the App Store actively suppress user privacy. It's not that hard to understand. Apple in China shows that Apple is willing to compromise that privacy stance when business could be affected.

Okay, I get your point now. I disagree though as I feel adhering to Chinese law supersedes Apple's ability to make said changes. I think it makes more sense to adhere to the law and continue to work on the issue. As a publicly traded company, they need to consider what makes the most business sense also. Hard line to straddle, but I get it.
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Consumers should always have the ability to make their own choices and any data recording transparent.
But like you say Apple has a vested interest in selling hardware, so hard to listen to Tim as non biased and without hidden agenda.

That's fair, goes both ways obviously. In the end, I look at it from a consumer perspective - which is positive.
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Tim Cook is an American citizen and runs an American company. If he wants to advocate for stricter protections and laws to protect privacy for US citizens, there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's a great thing. If he wants the company to be competitive in China, there is nothing wrong with that. They have different rules. It's childish and naive to expect suspension of sales every time he disagrees with government on a world, national, state, or local level.



Exactly right. Easy to criticize, and then go to your Facebook page, search with google, click on TOS without reading what they do with your data, etc.

Correct. Apple needs to handle their house first, but obviously have to allow for consumers to make their own decisions.
 
Ordinarily I’m against big government interference, but given that states such as California are already passing laws, a federal law is probably warranted to avoid a confusing regulatory framework here.

So true. However with Cali you need to look deeper. They always have a hidden agenda for things like this. :(
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I think user choice should still be considered.

Always. Unlike most, I do take the time and go through my Google stuff to turn on/off and pull up their report. Not 100% but it helps. Facebook I don't use.
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I think Apple should begin building a new HQ in Europe. What cook is dreaming about won’t manifest in the US under trump.

Under any President with the Congressional split we currently have. :cool:
 
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Google and Facebook have to be panicking right now. The momentum is building worldwide against their business models, and they would go out of business if it changed. Google, for example, makes over 90% of its revenue from using your private information to sell ads. Most worrisome for them is that Apple with its massive outreach capability is just beginning to tell what is going on by Google, etc. The vast majority of the public doesn't realize, for example, that Google is trying to build a massive dossier on everyone on the planet. That's not hyperbole.

Google used to state it wanted to digitalize ALL the world's information. That goal never changed, but what they never disclosed was when they developed what they call a "universal identifier," which is meant to tie together everything about every individual by linking every photo sent or received, every email sent or received, everywhere you drive, every single web page you visit, every item you click on, every document you upload, your contacts, your messages, etc., etc. For example, I am currently blocking 9 trackers on this website, at least three of them are Google's efforts to track my usage of this website and then follow me across the web, so even if you don't use their direct products (essential if you care about limiting their ability to build this dossier), they are trying to amass every bit of data about you and your family.

What's even worse is that most of the data they have about you is never disclosed to you as it is "linked" via your universal identifier and Google never discloses the ID's they have assigned to people. This needs to be the next step in legislation to get transparency about what is going on.

As more people find out about this and other practices, the outrage will be significant and the model will start to collapse.
 
That's a pretty disingenuous characterization of what @magicschoolbus stated. I'm pretty sure you know exactly what he meant as well, because you asked your question in a very leading way. No one said Apple was violating it's users privacy. For you to imply it is pretty bad form imo. Cook loves to tout privacy as a fundamental right (I agree with him), yet actively facilitates China's policies of governmental control over privacy rights of Chinese citizens.

I'm on record for being a fan of Cook as a CEO. I'm also on record for not being a fan of his moralizing that happens to have a hard ceiling of "does this affect revenue?" I genuinely think he means what he says. He believes in personal privacy. I also believe he's willing to compromise those beliefs when it comes to acquiescing to China.

I agree with everything you've written above. However, you can also just easily take what you wrote above and replace "Cook" with "U.S. Government" and China with "Saudi Arabia".

Everyone has their price. For Apple it is the Chinese market. For the U.S. Government it is Saudi oil.

We've reached a point where the only thing that can check big companies is big government and the only thing that can check big government is big companies. The only thing the people can do now is try to convince one or the other that it is in their best interest to act as a check rather than get in bed with each other which they often do.
 
That was just an extreme example, let me put it another way, there are people who think they have nothing to hide if we talk about encryption, that's not the point, it's my stuff in my device and nobody has the right to look into it.
You actually said that if I leave my house door open anyone can walk in.
Here's what you said again:



Yes, they have.
Nobody can enter your house without your consent, this is true for privacy too.

*Online privacy
If you are outside there's of course less privacy but people still have to adhere to rules.

I'm not going to say that you're wrong, because you may actually believe what you're saying, so I'm afraid we're going to have to agree to disagree, because if your house is open and someone decides to venture in and something gets taken, that is on you. if your kid leaves their new bike unchained in your backyard with a wire fence and another kid comes and takes it, that also is on you. You are personally responsible for you and your data's own well being, not the government, not Apple, not Tim Crook. You. And the things on your devices are only private so long as you are able to keep them private. If you have things you do not want seen you hide it just like everyone else. It's no one else's responsibility but your own. Technology is not a God given right and when you choose to utilize it it becomes incumbent upon you to choose your level of involvement. This is not a nanny state and the government is noones babysitter.
 
"No borders, no walls, no USA at all."

Isn't that what Tim Cook funds when he isn't grand standing for privacy rights? No walls... except when Apple calls for it.

What about the Chinese model, Tim?

Cook is half-baked in his soft, doughy core of arbitrary morality.
 
Google and Facebook have to be panicking right now. The momentum is building worldwide against their business models, and they would go out of business if it changed. Google, for example, makes over 90% of its revenue from using your private information to sell ads. Most worrisome for them is that Apple with its massive outreach capability is just beginning to tell what is going on by Google, etc. The vast majority of the public doesn't realize, for example, that Google is trying to build a massive dossier on everyone on the planet. That's not hyperbole.

Google used to state it wanted to digitalize ALL the world's information. That goal never changed, but what they never disclosed was when they developed what they call a "universal identifier," which is meant to tie together everything about every individual by linking every photo sent or received, every email sent or received, everywhere you drive, every single web page you visit, every item you click on, every document you upload, your contacts, your messages, etc., etc. For example, I am currently blocking 9 trackers on this website, at least three of them are Google's efforts to track my usage of this website and then follow me across the web, so even if you don't use their direct products (essential if you care about limiting their ability to build this dossier), they are trying to amass every bit of data about you and your family.

What's even worse is that most of the data they have about you is never disclosed to you as it is "linked" via your universal identifier and Google never discloses the ID's they have assigned to people. This needs to be the next step in legislation to get transparency about what is going on.

As more people find out about this and other practices, the outrage will be significant and the model will start to collapse.

Fact is, it's too opaque, bet that most people aren't really aware of tracking, yes, more and more people find out the hard way but I think people need to be educated about the dangers of the internet, starting young, this should be mandatory on every school.


I'm not going to say that you're wrong, because you may actually believe what you're saying, so I'm afraid we're going to have to agree to disagree, because if your house is open and someone decides to venture in and something gets taken, that is on you. if your kid leaves their new bike unchained in your backyard with a wire fence and another kid comes and takes it, that also is on you. You are personally responsible for you and your data's own well being, not the government, not Apple, not Tim Crook. You. And the things on your devices are only private so long as you are able to keep them private. If you have things you do not want seen you hide it just like everyone else. It's no one else's responsibility but your own. Technology is not a God given right and when you choose to utilize it it becomes incumbent upon you to choose your level of involvement. This is not a nanny state and the government is noones babysitter.

Fair enough.
 
Nothing will change because it's monetized.
Look at it this way. They already don't protect our data and the lawmakers have done nothing in the face of data breach after data breach.

Companies look at the cost of credit monitoring as the price of doing business.
Until such time where a data breach costs real money, forget about any protections.
Protect yourself and limit the data you give.
If the service wants to much data, don't use it.

I'm proud to say, I don't have social media accounts.
I have Google and Apple; but neither of them is really into selling your data because they want to sell you their own services. I can live with that.
 
Cook puts on a good publicity stunt when it comes to privacy. Looks the other way and coughs when it comes to China.

No threat to profits and good image - a winner.
China China China blah blah blah yawn yawn yawn.

Find us a mainstream smartphone company that takes your privacy more seriously and I’ll publicly renounce Apple and switch ecosystems tomorrow.
 
China China China blah blah blah yawn yawn yawn.

Find us a mainstream smartphone company that takes your privacy more seriously and I’ll publicly renounce Apple and switch ecosystems tomorrow.

Apple talk a good game but as soon as profits are at risk, Apple are quiet. Over all: lots of noise, and thats it.

Apple's privacy talk is a sales strategy, until it negatively impacts them.
 
Apple talk a good game but as soon as profits are at risk, Apple are quiet. Over all: lots of noise, and thats it.

Apple's privacy talk is a sales strategy, until it negatively impacts them.

I am not sure I agree. One could argue that this is all about profits for Apple, and they are the loudest company out there. You may consider it noise, but Apple is in fact making progress with their privacy efforts and pushing others to do the same. Since you seem to be against it, would prefer the opposite? You want to eliminate any privacy regulation? Just curious on your position there.
 
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I do agree with privacy efforts. GDPR is a good thing and more countries should have some thing similar.

Apple champion data privacy - sure - until it becomes an issue. Again, China.

Edit: ^ this is not unique to apple.
I am not sure I agree. One could argue that this is all about profits for Apple, and they are the loudest company out there. You may consider it noise, but Apple is in fact making progress with their privacy efforts and pushing others to do the same. Since you seem to be against it, you would prefer the opposite? You want to eliminate any privacy regulation? Just curious on your position there.
 
Meanwhile accepts #3 Billion every year to have Google, the biggest data miner in the world, as default search engine on all iOS Devices.

yeah when it wasn't I was going to google.com manually. If they don't put it, people complain that its anti-competitive. Does it redirect you back to google when you go to duckduckgo on safari?
 
I do agree with privacy efforts. GDPR is a good thing and more countries should have some thing similar.

Awesome, glad that we can agree there. I get that profitability makes stuff like this cloudy, but in the end I feel like it's good for all of us as consumers.
 
Apple talk a good game but as soon as profits are at risk, Apple are quiet. Over all: lots of noise, and thats it.

Apple's privacy talk is a sales strategy, until it negatively impacts them.
You have literally no idea what you’re talking about. The best part is that the next thread down is about how Apple’s latest iOS disabled a sophisticated hacking machine. What a noisy upgrade! And you think Apple couldn’t profit from selling you on the open market?? Lol!!

But fine. Have fun in Google’s universe, where your data’s really private! LMAO!!!

I sense a mythological creature... maybe one found in a Tolkien book... not an elf... not a goblin...
 
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I have to say, I think more of Tim Cook’s defense of our privacy and his promotion of human rights than of his leadership abilities of the World’s largest publicly traded company. He is the type of leader that should be leading our government - not our AAPL. And that’s saying a lot for any human. Tim Cook for President of the USA.
Its cute you think the US Presidents have any flexibility to make change. Theyre essentially told what to say and when:D

Remember when JFK warned about the powers that be, then got “assasinated” a week later.. lol
 
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