Apple CEO Ironically Calls For More Privacy Regulations During A Speech In China

A recent speech by Apple CEO Tim Cook shook a lot of branches. Part of it is because it’s being taken as a response to the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica debacle that’s absolutely dominating the headlines these days. Another reason is because Cook made the speech in China, which is notorious for having absolutely no respect for its citizen’s privacy and its overzealous surveillance practices.

Cook made the speech during the China Development Forum, which was held in Beijing, Bloomberg reports. During his time on the podium, the Apple CEO touched on a lot of subjects but allotted time to talk about the privacy issues currently plaguing the U.S., even suggesting that more regulations are necessary.

“I think that this certain situation is so dire and has become so large that probably some well-crafted regulation is necessary,” Cook said. “The ability of anyone to know what you’ve been browsing about for years, who your contacts are, who their contacts are, things you like and dislike and every intimate detail of your life -- from my own point of view it shouldn’t exist.”

As Business Insider points out, Apple can claim a bit of the moral high ground in this regard because it doesn’t have a huge stake in the advertising industry as many other tech companies do. Facebook and Google thrive on ad revenue, which fuels the need to collect as much information from users as possible. This is not the case with Apple.

On the other hand, giving this speech in China is an odd choice. The country’s government has not exactly made its habit of spying on its people a secret. This tendency has resulted in consequences such as Huawei becoming a pariah in the U.S., due to government fears that the company’s phones might be used to spy on Americans. Other than that, Cook’s sentiments mirror that of other tech leaders.