Tim Cook criticises Facebook and Google over privacy

Apple boss Tim Cook on Tuesday accused Google and Facebook of disregarding users' privacy.

Cook said Apple rejects the idea of customers having to make trade offs between privacy and security, adding that companies should provide both “in equal measure”.

We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy

“We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy. The American people demand it, the constitution demands it, morality demands it,” Cooks said at the Electronic Privacy Information Center's (EPIC) Champions of Freedom event in Washington, where he was honoured for ‘corporate leadership'.

“They’re gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetise it. We think that’s wrong. And it’s not the kind of company that Apple wants to be.”

It is not the first time that Cook has attacked web rivals’ business models. In September 2014 he published an open letter to customers about privacy, emphasising that Apple did not build profiles of its users from their email content or web browsing habits “to sell to advertisers”.

“If those of us in positions of responsibility fail to do everything in our power to protect the right of privacy, we risk something far more valuable than money. We risk our way of life,” he said.

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