Cook Calls for Comprehensive Privacy Law, Says Companies Prioritize Profit Over Privacy

Apple CEO Tim Cook calls for comprehensive US privacy law, says some companies value profit over privacy

In a strongly-worded speech at a Brussels data privacy conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook reiterated several familiar themes—Apple’s focus on user privacy and his concerns about the data collection, surveillance, and manipulation that have become increasingly common in recent years. Cook used his speech to call for a new comprehensive US data protection law, arguing that modern technology has made personal data and daily life “increasingly intertwined” and that “in too many cases, the privacy of the individual is being left behind.”

This new law, Cook said, should include not only baseline privacy protections, but should also “empower” users to control their data. Cook laid out four core principles for a new comprehensive privacy law. First, he argued that users should have the right to access and control their own data. Second, he said, companies should be required to obtain “clear and unambiguous” user consent before collecting and using personal data. Third, companies should be required to implement strong data security measures to protect user data from “breaches and misuse.” And finally, companies should be held accountable for “violations of privacy,” Cook said, and users should have a “meaningful” way to seek redress when companies violate their privacy rights.

Cook did not go into great detail about how a new privacy law should be structured, and he did not offer specifics about which government agency should be responsible for enforcing such a law. But his speech does suggest that Apple will be pushing hard for new privacy legislation in the United States.