Apple CEO Tim Cook Pens Open Letter Reassuring Users of Commitment to Privacy
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Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Apple CEO Tim Cook reaffirmed the company’s respect for customers’ privacy in an open letter on Wednesday, stating that the company does not sell customers’ data or provide a backdoor for government agencies to invade users’ privacy.
“Our business model is very straightforward,” Cook writes. “We sell great products. We don’t build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don’t ‘monetize’ the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don’t read your email or your messages to get information to market to you,” the letter reads.
Simply put, Cook says, “our software and services are designed to make our devices better.”
Cook acknowledged that the only part of the Apple brand that serves advertisers is iAd, a network that functions with the iTunes Radio service to help support advertisers. However, Cook notes, iAd “doesn’t get data from health and HomeKit, Maps, Siri, iMessage, your call history, or any iCloud service like Contacts or Mail.” In fact, users can completely opt out of iAd if they choose.
“Finally,” Cook wrote, “I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will.”
Apple, Cook says, is committed to protecting the privacy of its customers. This commitment is borne our of a “deep respect” for users.
“We know your trust doesn’t come easy,” Cook admitted, “that’s why we have and always will work as hard as we can to earn and keep it.”
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