Apple’s Tim Cook Preaches Tech Firm Responsibility

In a speech at Stanford University, Apple CEO Tim Cook said tech firms in Silicon Valley have to assume responsibility for “chaos” they create. The speech encompassed privacy violations and data breaches, among other topics, CNBC reported.

Cook said, “We see it every day now with every data breach, every privacy violation, every blind eye turned to hate speech, fake news poisoning out national conversation, the false miracles in exchange for a single drop of your blood.” He also noted, “It feels a bit crazy that anyone should have to say this, but if you built a chaos factory, you can’t dodge responsibility for the chaos.”

The speech also covered themes such as advice to scholars on going on their own paths as well as how to make a legacy.

In addition, the outlet noted that the speech is the newest in a series where Cook has talked about his data security perspectives. As it stands, Apple has made privacy an important iPhone feature and rolled out a sign-on feature that is privacy-focused in recent times.

The news comes as Cook called on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to put in place a new framework to increase the transparency of companies that handle user data per reports in January. Cook said in an op-ed piece for Time Magazine published in January that consumers should be able to monitor where their information is going and remove any data on demand per a report in CNBC.

Cook said in the article, according to the news outlet, “We believe the Federal Trade Commission should establish a data-broker clearinghouse, requiring all data brokers to register, enabling consumers to track the transactions that have bundled and sold their data from place to place, and giving users the power to delete their data on demand, freely, easily and online, once and for all.”