Never requested any data from Facebook: Apple CEO Tim Cook

Tim Cook (Image: Reuters)

Apple CEO Tim Cook has rubbished reports which claim that the company had user data-sharing agreements with Facebook.  “We have never been in the data business,” Cook said.

A New York Times report stated how personal information of Facebook users had been made available for Apple and other 60 device makers over an agreement between them. Information on users relationship status, religion and political tendency were among the list of the private data which had been made available over the agreement between these companies, the report said.

According to a report by The Indian Express, Apple CEO said: “The things mentioned in the Times article about relationship statuses and all these kinds of stuff, this is so foreign to us, and not data that we have ever received at all or requested,” he said.

“What we did was we integrated the ability to share in the operating system, make it simple to share a photo and that sort of thing," Cook also added. "So, it's a convenience for the user. We weren't in the data business. We've never been in the data business."

The Apple boss briefly insisted on how their way of operation was different from any other companies and how they never requested any personal data and information from Facebook because it was not suitable and it did not fit with Apple’s way of operating.

Also, in a separate interview with CNN, Cook said: “I think that the privacy thing has gotten totally out of control and I think most people are not aware of who is tracking them, how much they're being tracked and the large amounts of detailed data that are out there about them.”

According to him Apple’s thought of privacy was a “fundamental human right”, something it will never want to breach and misuse in anyways. He had also spoken out against the business model of these big companies and how it revolved around targeted advertising based on user’s personal data.

The Apple CEO stated how iOS 12 and macOS Mojave will come with increased privacy and security for users. Apple’s Safari browser will block tracking via ‘Likes’ ‘Shares’ in iOS 12 and macOS in order to protect user privacy and data.