Transcript: Apple’s Tim Cook warns privacy is under threat

Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage in person to deliver the keynote speech at the International Association of Privacy Professionals summit. He discussed the need for privacy to be valued as a universal right and sounded a huge warning that forcing Apple to permit sideloading of insecure apps would make everyone less safe. (He’s right about that).

The complete transcript

What follows for the record is a hastily typed transcript, which may or may not be terribly accurate. I agree with every word he says, by the way. I’m also genuinely fearful that this call will be ignored. All sub-headlines in this are my own, but the copy is Cook’s.

Tim Cook speaks on privacy at IAPP

“The fight to protect privacy is not an easy one. But it is one of the most essential battles of our time. And we at Apple are proud to stand alongside all those who are working to advance privacy rights around the world.

As a company, we are profoundly inspired by what technology can make possible but we know too, that technology is neither inherently good nor inherently bad. It is what we make of it. It is a mirror that reflects the ambitions and intentions of the people who use it. The people who build it, and the people who regulate it.

We face two realities

Out of this paradigm have grown two disparate coinciding realities.

One where technology unlocks humanity’s full creative potential and ushers in a new era of possibility. The other where technology is exploited to rob humanity of that which is foundational, our privacy itself and that is a loss we cannot accept.

Because it is our privacy that gives us the freedom to explore different ideas, to indulge our curiosity, to dream big and take chances and make mistakes.

It is privacy that lets us be and become ourselves without being afraid that our every move will be seen, recorded or leave a world without privacy is less imaginative, less empathetic, less innovative, less human.

At Apple that is not the world we want to live in.

Privacy is a fundamental human right

We believe that privacy is a fundamental human right.

One that is a central to our vision of a world where technology enriches people’s lives. And to help create that world we are fighting for privacy in multiple areas of our work.

The first area is a familiar one.

It is a commitment to protecting people from a data industrial complex, built on a foundation of surveillance.

At this very moment, companies are mining data about the details of our lives. The shops and restaurants we frequent, the causes we support, the websites we choose to read. These companies defend their actions as pure of intention, as the work of better serving us with more targeted experiences.

But they don’t believe we should have a real choice in the matter.

They don’t believe that they should need our permission to peer so deeply into our personal lives. Who would stand for such a thing if it were unfolding in the physical world?

Imagine a stranger following you as you take your child to school holding a camera outside the driver’s side window, recording everything you do.

Imagine you open your computer and the stranger is suddenly watching your every keystroke.

He wouldn’t call that a service.

He would call it an emergency.

In the digital world, it is one too.

How Apple helps protect your privacy

So, we’ve given our users the features they need to have more control over their private information. We’ve given them the simple but revolutionary ability to decide for themselves whether apps can track their activity across other companies apps and websites.

We’ve given them the tools to shield their locations and hide their email addresses. And we’ve given them greater peace of mind knowing that their apps they download from the App Store are held on privacy standards.

The second area is our battle against an array of dangerous actors from sophisticated hackers and ransomware gangs to the everyday con artists to pervade our digital world.

We’ve long said that security is the foundation of privacy because there is no privacy in a world where your private data can be stolen with impunity.

Never before has this threat been more profound, or its consequences more visible: from scams and social engineering attacks, to massive data breaches and targeted disinformation. The dangers we face do more than compromise our data.

They compromise our freedom to be human.

And there is nothing we take more seriously than safeguarding our users from the threat these attacks represent. It’s why we minimize the amount of data we collect and work to maximise how much is processed directly on people’s devices.

Because we know that centralized readable data is vulnerable data and we want to reduce the risk to our users.

It’s why personal data on iPhone is encrypted by default by health data passwords and home security camera recordings that people store on iCloud are end to end encrypted so that not even Apple can look at them.

No, backdoors make everyone far less safe

It’s why we continue to stand up for encryption without backdoors because we know that if you install a backdoor, anyone can use it.

And it’s why we built such rigorous security protections into the App Store from the beginning so that people can be confident they aren’t downloading malware onto their devices.

But I fear that we could soon lose the ability to provide some of those protections.

And that brings me to our third area of concern, regulations that could put our privacy and security at risk.

To be clear, Apple is in favour of privacy regulation. We have long been supporters of the GDPR and we applaud the many countries that have enacted privacy laws of their own.

We also continue to call for a strong comprehensive privacy law in the United States.

<<Strong applause>>

And we are grateful to all the global leaders who are working to advance privacy rights, including the rights of children in particular.

But we are deeply concerned about regulations that would undermine privacy and security and service of some other aim.

Please make good regulation

Here in Washington and elsewhere, policy makers are taking steps in the name of competition that would force Apple to let apps on the iPhone that circumvent the App Store through a process called side loading.

That means data hungry companies would be able to avoid our privacy rules and once again track our users against their will. It would also potentially give bad actors a way around the comprehensive security protections we put in place putting them in direct contact with our users.

And we have already seen the vulnerability that creates on other devices.

Early in the pandemic for example, there were reports of people downloading what appeared to be legitimate COVID tracing apps only to have their devices infected with ransomware.

But these victims weren’t iPhone users, because the scheme directly targeted those who could install apps from websites that lacked the App Store’s defences.

Proponents of these regulations argue that no harm would be done by simply giving people a choice.

But taking away a more secure option will leave users with less choice, not more.

And when companies decide to leave the App Store because they want to exploit user data it could put significant pressure on people to engage with alternate App Stores. Stores where their privacy and security may not be protected.

Beware of profound consequences

Now I want to make something very clear to all of you.

Apple believes in competition we value its role in driving innovation and pushing us all forward. And we appreciate that supporters of these ideas have good intentions. But if we are forced to let unvetted apps on the iPhone, the unintended consequences will be profound. And when we see that we feel an obligation to speak up and to ask policy makers to work with us to advance goals that I truly believe we share without undermining privacy in the process.

We will continue to make our voices heard on this issue.

We will continue to advocate on behalf of our users and what they deserve.

And we hope all of you (I missed this bit)…. privacy implemented in a manner that protects people’s fundamental rights because we all stand to lose in a world without privacy. I also know how much we stand to gain if we get this right.

Put humans first

Today the promise and potential of technology have never been greater.

The innovation landscape across the globe has never been more exciting.

And within our sight is a future where technology enables humanity to flourish like never before. At Apple we envision a future where technology inspires people to be healthier and more creative where it opens new avenues of learning and opportunity. Where it helps all of us connect more deeply with the people we love and the world that surrounds us.

It is a future where technology empowers people without intruding into their lives and serves as a unifying force for good and it is a future that together I believe we have the power to achieve.

Databanks in a Free Society

As you may know, this year marks the 50th anniversary of privacy luminary Alan Westin’s landmark study Databanks in a Free Society (Amazon link).

Westin concluded that while the erosion of privacy was a legitimate fear, it was not an inevitable consequence of technology.

“What is collected. For what purposes. With whom information is shared,” he wrote, are all matters of policy choice, not technological determinism. He said that man cannot escape his social or moral responsibilities by murmuring feebly that the machine made me do it.

In so many ways, our world today bears little resemblance to the world of a half century ago. But those words strike me as more relevant now than ever before.

The pivotal moment for privacy

This is a pivotal moment in the battle for privacy.

As we look to the future, it is clear that technology will continue to shape our world.

But the impact that technology makes on society is not predetermined.

The loss of privacy is not inevitable.

And those of us who create technology and make the rules that govern it have a profound responsibility to the people we serve.

Let us embrace that responsibility.

Let us protect our data and secure our digital world. And let us be clear that privacy cannot and will not become a relic of the past.

Thank you so very much for having me this morning.

<<Much Applause>>

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