Apple Boss Accused Facebook, Google of Manipulating Users' Data

Tim Cook

Apple chief Tim Cook has made a light attack on Facebook and Google for "gobbling up" users' personal data. Mr. Cook who has just been given a corporate leadership award by the Electronic Privacy Information Centre, a US-based research group.

In a speech, he said people should not have to "make trade-offs between privacy and security". While not mentioning Facebook and Google explicitly, he attacked companies that "built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency".

Addressing an audience in Washington DC, Mr Cook said: "I'm speaking to you from Silicon Valley, where some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information.

"They're gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetise it. We think that's wrong. And it's not the kind of company that Apple wants to be."

Privacy International's technologist Dr Richard Tynan said "It is encouraging to see Apple making the claim that they collect less information on us than their competitors,". However, we have yet to see verifiable evidence of the implementation of these claims with regard to their hardware, firmware, software or online services. "It is crucial that our devices do not betray us." reacting to Mr. Cook’s comments.

Google has not commented on Mr Cook's comments specifically, but a spokeswoman referred the BBC to the privacy section of its website, which the company has recently updated. She said, "Ads are what enable us to make our services like Search, Gmail, and Maps free for everyone, We do not share information with advertisers in a way that personally identifies you, unless you gave us permission."

While Apple does not hold the same wealth of data looked after by Google and Facebook, it does use personal information to target advertising. One the Marketer’s page on Apple wesite offers "400 targeting options" for reaching users.

It reads: "Whether you're looking for moms or business travellers or groups of your own customers, we've got you covered."

Apple's lack of data, when compared with some of its rivals, could be a disadvantage for future devices. Services such as Google Now, which use stored data to predict what information users may need, require vast amounts of personal data to be effective.