The ‘After the Bell’ panel discusses the $ 100 billion first quarter in the company’s history due to strong demand for the iPhone 12.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has blamed social media companies for neglecting the social costs of collecting data about their users, ignoring the consequences of extremism and polarization.
“Many are still asking themselves ‘how much can we get away with?’ when should we be asking ‘what are the consequences?’ ”Cook said at an international conference on computers, privacy and data protection held virtually. He stopped before naming any particular technology or social media company.
ARCHIVE – In this January 3, 2019 archive photo, a man walks out of an Apple store in Beijing. Apple says it will launch a new privacy control in the spring of 2021 to prevent iPhone apps from secretly following people. (AP)
“What are the consequences of not only tolerating, but rewarding content that undermines public confidence in life-saving vaccines? What are the consequences of seeing thousands of users join extremist groups and then perpetuate an algorithm that recommends more? “
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Cook said it was “time to stop pretending that this approach has no cost” – polarization, loss of confidence and “yes, violence”.
His comments come as Apple prepares to launch a new privacy control in early spring to prevent iPhone apps from secretly following people. This puts the ongoing feature to launch after a delay of more than six months in order to placate Facebook and other digital services that rely on such data surveillance to help sell ads.
Apple did not provide a specific date, but the general timeline released means that the long-awaited protection known as App Tracking Transparency will be part of an iPhone software update.
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After delaying the introduction of the safeguard amid protests led by Facebook, Apple had previously said it would be launched earlier this year. Apple released the latest programming update as part of Data Privacy Day, which Cook will welcome during a speech scheduled at a technology conference in Europe next week.
Apple is avoiding giving Facebook and other app makers more time to adjust to a feature that will require iPhone users to give explicit consent to be tracked. Analysts expect a significant number of users to deny this permission, since it requires their consent. Currently, iPhone users are often tracked by the apps they install, unless they take the extra step of entering iPhone settings to avoid it.
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The company released an 11-page report to illustrate how much apps can learn about their users on a daily basis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.