Apple chief says user data can be used to deepen divisions, incite violence Cook hits out at weaponisation of people’s data

Brussels, Oct. 24: Apple chief executive Tim Cook said on Wednesday that customer data was being “weaponised with military efficiency” by companies to increase profit.

Mr Cook, speaking at the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, said Apple supported a federal privacy law in the United States and also touted the iPhone maker’s commitment to protect users’ data and privacy.

Issues over how data is used and how consumers can protect their personal information are under the spotlight after big breaches of data privacy involving millions of internet and social media users in Europe and the United States.

Apple, which designs many of its products so that it cannot see users’ data, has largely avoided the data privacy scandals that have enmeshed its rivals Google and Facebook this year.

“The desire to put profits over privacy is nothing new,” Mr Cook told a packed audience of privacy regulators, corporate executives and other participants.

“Today that trade has exploded into a data industrial complex. Our own information, from the everyday to the deeply personal, is being weaponized against us with military efficiency,” he said.

“These scraps of data ... each one harmless enough on its own ... are carefully assembled, synthesized, traded, and sold.”

He said algorithms, a major tool for competitors, were turning harmless preferences into hardened convictions.

“If green is your favorite colour, you may find yourself reading a lot of articles — or watching a lot of videos — about the insidious threat from people who like orange,” Mr Cook said.

“We shouldn’t sugarcoat the consequences. This is surveillance. And these stockpiles of personal data serve only to enrich the companies that collect them,” he said.

Mr Cook also warned about governments abusing users’ data and their trust, a concern for many with elections coming up in several countries worldwide. “Platforms and algorithms that promised to improve our lives can magnify our worst human tendencies,” he said.

“Rogue actors and even governments have taken advantage of user trust to deepen divisions, incite violence,” the Apple chief said. — Reuters