Tim Cook: there is no reason why you would have to choose between privacy and security

WWDC 2012 keynote (Tim Cook 001)

Apple CEO Tim Cook is on the final leg of his tour of Isreal and Europe and has been speaking to UK publication The Telegraph about a range of things including Apple customers’ privacy and of all things, terrorism.

Known for his unusual stance on privacy – one which doesn’t jive with other high profile tech executives who are happy to share everything about you – Cook told the publication during an interview that he feels people’s information is being “trafficked around” in ways that they just don’t yet understand.

In what we can only assume is a stab at competitor Google, the Apple CEO also goes on to say that iPhones, or hardware, are how Apple makes its money rather than using its customers and their data. Google scrapes every last piece of information from its users in order to sell them ads, though we can’t help out point the finger at iAds here. Still, we’ve got more faith in Apple than Google when it comes to our privacy as a whole.

Inevitably talk turned to governments and their wish to have backdoors into systems owned by Apple such as iMessage. Cook says that such a thing would punish the good while the bad will be using their own encrypted systems anyway. Cook is quick to point out that terrorists should “be eliminated,” but presumably without the help of anything held on Apple’s servers.

You don’t want to eliminate everyone’s privacy. If you do, you not only don’t solve the terrorist issue but you also take away something that is a human right. The consequences of doing that are very significant.

This will be music to the ears of millions of iPhone, iPad and Mac users who are steadily starting to store more of their lives in Apple data centers via iCloud.

Beyond privacy and terrorism, Cook also discusses Apple Pay and how it too helps to secure user data rather than having credit card numbers shared left and right.

The lengthy piece does help allay any fears that Apple may be in cahoots with governments as far as data sharing is concerned, but we do wonder how the company’s stance may soften when faced with court papers.

We’ll still put our data in iCloud more willingly than Google, though.

Source: The Telegraph