A year before he died, Steve Jobs drew a line in the sand on the reuse of personal data.
From Steve Jobs Warned Mark Zuckerberg About Privacy Way Back in 2010 posted Monday by Tre-Goins Philips on IJR:
At the time, Jobs said Apple has “always had a very different view of privacy” than other companies in Silicon Valley. He then explained what privacy means:
“Privacy means people know what they’re signing up for, in plain English, and repeatedly. I’m an optimist; I believe people are smart, and some people want to share more data than other people do.
Ask them. Ask them every time. Make them tell you to stop asking them if they get tired of your asking them. Let them know precisely what you’re going to do with their data.”
“A lot of people in the Valley think we’re really old-fashioned about this,” Jobs, who died in 2011, added. “And maybe we are, but we worry about stuff like this.”
Cue the video:
My take: In three minutes, Jobs laid out—with passion and clarity—what ought to be the law.
Tim Cook is saying the same things today no?
I do seriously hope this issue blows up enough (more than so far) to get some significant changes to the way things are done with individuals data.Google seems to have. been awfully quite for example.
In the meantime I just avoid using Google, Facebook, Android, Messenger, WhatsApp et al.!
What a great response! It’s literally one for the ages.
Here on PED’s forums we’ve been telling people for a very long time that Apple is bulletproof on this issue, and on the overarching issue of putting the customer first. The very worst thing you can say about Apple is that they’re making a goodly profit. But they’re making it honestly, giving people a lot of value for their hard-earned cash. And yes, protecting folks’ pprivacy to the largest extent possible is one of those values.
I’ve objected strenouosly to those who make a big deal out of Siri’s backwardness in comparison to Alexa and the rest. But that very backwardness is almost certainly due to the privacy constraints Apple applies that the others don’t. At the same time, Apple product users still get very good service out of Siri.
Eventally; Apple may find a way to make Siri both as intelligent as the rest and secure. If that happens, the shoe will be on the other foot, just like it is now with Facebook.
Yep, Apple’s information gathering has always been hamstrung by their conservative views on privacy.
Key quotes. And how prescient:
“…They might not follow that rule.”
“Let them know precisely what you’re doing with their data”