Tim Cook remembers Steve Jobs and his strong stance on privacy

Apple’s approach to privacy in its products is not new. It’s true that last year it was improved to include features like app tracking transparency or iCloud Private Relay in iOS and macOS, among others. But records of this compromise can be found in the distant past, leading to one figure in particular: Steve Jobs.

Event ended yesterday far, Tim CookApple CEO attended Code Conference 2022 and remembered Steve Jobs as one who is responsible for promoting a culture of protecting privacy in company. Speaking about the progress of surveillance around the world and how Apple is fighting to keep its users’ data intact, the executive praised the pioneering stance taken by the co-founder of the California firm at the time.

“I think he saw it and he saw it well [por la protección de la privacidad]And I have every reason to believe that he would have made strong arguments and argued along the way,” Cook said.

In addition to recent announcements by Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs’ vision for creating products and services with privacy at the forefront. was not unknown. Last October, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his death, we recalled in hypertext some very interesting statements about this in one of his last public interviews.

It happened in 2010, during the conference All digital. There, Jobs emphasized the importance of the public being able to control who and how can access their personal information or location data.

“We have always had a different idea of ​​privacy than our peers. We take privacy very seriously. For example, we care a lot about location on phones; terrible things happen because of our phone. So before apps get access to your location data – and we don’t make a rule that says it has to show a notification and ask because we know they might not comply – they contact with our location services and we are the ones who show a notification that says “This app wants to use your location data, do you agree?” whenever you want to use them. […]

Privacy means that people know what they are signing up for, clearly and repeatedly. I am an optimist and I believe that people are smart and some want to share more personal information than others. Ask them. Ask them every time. Let them tell you to stop asking if they are tired of your questions. Let them know exactly what you are going to do with their data. That’s what we think.”

Steve Jobs on the importance of privacy.

Steve Jobs was ahead of his time in promoting privacy protection

What Steve Jobs preached in 2010 has become part of the normal discourse of almost every company that currently records or manipulates sensitive data. Some really care about improving their practice, while for others it’s just good marketing. In Apple’s case, she started talking about privacy at a time when few people really cared..

At that time, the iPhone was on the market for only 3 years, tablets (led by the iPad) were just taking their first steps, and Android was still far from being the OS that would dominate the global smartphone market. Among the population, the concept of privacy was more about having a good password on email and social media accounts than it was about how companies collected and used personal data.

Many users began to attach due importance to the topic only in 2018, after the scandal with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

Be careful, just because Steve Jobs fostered a culture of protecting user privacy doesn’t mean the story is the same door in. In recent years, Apple has come under fire for how it handles sensitive employee information. In 2021 The Verge published a report titled Apple cares about privacy, unless you work for Applewhich is devoted to this topic and deserves to be read.

Returning to Tim Cook and his memories of the most important figure in the history of the company, he argued that try to drive him without losing his legacy. “In many ways, the company is still doing what Steve did,” he said.