Tim Cook Takes A Swing At Facebook And Internet Companies During Duke Commencement Speech

Graduation ceremonies are supposed to be solemn affairs where influential figures are invited to speak to the students and given them inspiration as they enter the real world. This is what Apple CEO Tim Cook was recently invited to do and in the process, took a jab at social media and internet companies like Facebook over privacy matters.

In a commencement speech that occurred on Sunday at Duke University, Cook went through the same old platitudes that are usually given to the graduates, CNN reports. Sometime into invoking the name of Steve Jobs, however, the Apple CEO touched on the matter of privacy.

"We reject the excuse that getting the most out of technology means trading away your right to privacy," Cook told the assembled students and teachers. "So we choose a different path, collecting as little of your data as possible, being thoughtful and respectful when it's in our care because we know it belongs to you."

Many publications are taking this as a swing at Facebook by Cook, who famously said in an interview before that he would never have been in Mark Zuckerberg’s shoes. However, it’s not just the social media giant that does such things. Google collects user information, as well, so the Apple CEO’s jab was also directed at them and any other internet company that uses user information for their own gains.

For the most part, Cook has been one of the most vocal members of the tech community with regards to calling for the protection of privacy rights, CNBC notes. Apple is not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, and the company certainly has other issues to contend with as well. However, it has often been touted as an example of a firm that doesn’t need to spy on everything that its users do.