Ex-Facebook security chief calls out Tim Cook and Apple's practices in China
Ex-Facebook security chief calls out Tim Cook and Apple's
practices in China
·
Former Facebook chief security officer Alex
Stamos said on Twitter Apple needs to "come clean" about how it
blocks ways to provide a more secure and private way to access apps in China.
·
Stamos was responding to comments made by Apple
CEO Tim Cook, who spoke harshly about the data collection and use practices of
social media companies for advertising.
·
"We don't want the media to create an
incentive structure that ignores treating Chinese citizens as less-deserving of
privacy protections because a CEO is willing to bad-mouth the business model of
their primary competitor, who uses advertising to subsidize cheaper
devices," Stamos tweeted.
By Michelle Castillo October 24, 2018 CNBC.com
Former Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos called
out Apple over its actions to limit access to apps in China.
"We don't want the media to create an incentive
structure that ignores treating Chinese citizens as less-deserving of privacy
protections because a CEO is willing to bad-mouth the business model of their
primary competitor, who uses advertising to subsidize cheaper devices,"
Stamos said in a series of tweets responding to recent comments made by Apple
CEO Tim Cook.
Cook spoke about privacy regulations at a keynote speech
during the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy
Commissioners (ICDPPC) conference in Brussels on Wednesday. He called out
social media companies for abusing user privacy to create algorithms to
"serve up increasingly extreme content, pounding our harmless preferences
into hardened convictions."
Though Stamos said he agreed with "almost
everything" Cook said, in a series of tweets he called out Apple for
blocking the ability to download VPN and encrypted messaging apps in China, which
could provide ways to connect to the internet and send messages privately and
without surveillance.
"We don't want the media to create an incentive
structure that ignores treating Chinese citizens as less-deserving of privacy
protections because a CEO is willing to bad-mouth the business model of their
primary competitor, who uses advertising to subsidize cheaper devices,"
Stamos tweeted in an apparent reference to Google and its Android operating
system for smartphones.
Stamos called for companies like Google, Twitter and his
former employer Facebook to collect less data and the need for strong privacy laws
in the U.S., in agreement with Cook. However, he also said Apple needs to
"come clean" about its practices in China.
"Apple needs to come clean on how iCloud works in
China and stop setting damaging precedents for how willing American companies
will be to service the internal security desires of the Chinese Communist
Party," he tweeted.
See his comments below. Stamos did not immediately
respond to CNBC's request for comment.
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
· 11h
I agree with
almost everything Tim Cook said in his privacy speech today, which is why it is
so sad to see the media credulously covering his statements without the context
of Apple's actions in
China.https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1055035534769340418 …
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
The missing context? Apple uses hardware-rooted DRM to
deny Chinese users the ability to install the VPN and E2E messaging apps that
would allow them to avoid pervasive censorship and surveillance. Apple moved
iCloud data into a PRC-controlled joint venture with unclear impacts.
1:22 PM - Oct 24, 2018
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
· 11h
Replying to @alexstamos
China is an ethical blind spot for many in tech: We
ignore the working conditions under which our beautiful devices are made, the
censorship and surveillance necessary to ship apps there, the environmental
externalities of coal-powered Chinese Bitcoin farms.
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
We don't want the media to create an incentive structure
that ignores treating Chinese citizens as less-deserving of privacy protections
because a CEO is willing to bad-mouth the business model of their primary
competitor, who uses advertising to subsidize cheaper devices.
1:22 PM - Oct 24, 2018
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
· 11h
Replying to @alexstamos
Cook is right, the US needs a strong privacy law and
privacy regulator, and advertising companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter
need to collect less data and minimize more often.
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
Apple needs to come clean on how iCloud works in China
and stop setting damaging precedents for how willing American companies will be
to service the internal security desires of the Chinese Communist Party.
1:22 PM - Oct 24, 2018
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
· 11h
Replying to @alexstamos
Let's look at some of the most fawning coverage (thanks
@Techmeme)!
In @techcrunch by @riptari, "Tim Cook Makes
Blistering Attack". The word China isn't included
https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/24/apples-tim-cook-makes-blistering-attack-on-the-data-industrial-complex/
…
Apple's Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the
"data industrial complex"
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has joined the chorus of voices
warning that data itself is being weaponized again people and societies —
arguing that the trade in digital data has exploded into a “data...
techcrunch.com
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
The Verge, @jjvincent. "Cook has long advocated for
strong standards in data privacy..." Really? Would you say he equally
advocates everywhere for that?https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/24/18017842/tim-cook-data-privacy-laws-us-speech-brussels
…
1:22 PM - Oct 24, 2018
Tim Cooks warns of ‘data-industrial complex’ in call for
comprehensive federal privacy laws
‘Our own information is being weaponized against us with
military efficiency’
theverge.com
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
· 11h
Replying to @alexstamos
In the @washingtonpost, where I would honestly expect
better since tech concessions to the PRC are a huge, bi-partisan area of
concern for Congress. Same with
@thehill.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/apples-tim-cook-delivers-searing-critique-of-silicon-valley/2018/10/24/5adaa586-d6dd-11e8-8384-bcc5492fef49_story.html?utm_term=.c75f21d2adaa
…
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/412888-apple-chief-rips-data-industrial-complex
…
Apple's Tim Cook rips ‘data industrial complex,’ backs
privacy laws
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday warned that personal
information is being "weaponized" and “has exploded into a data
industrial complex.”
thehill.com
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
@nytimes reprints a @Reuters article, no
mention.https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/10/24/business/24reuters-eu-privacy-apple.html
…
1:22 PM - Oct 24, 2018
Apple Boss Takes Aim at 'Weaponization' of Customer Data
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Wednesday said customer
data was being "weaponized with military efficiency" by companies to
increase profit and called for a federal privacy law in the United...
nytimes.com
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
· 11h
Replying to @alexstamos
@nytimes reprints a @Reuters article, no
mention.https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/10/24/business/24reuters-eu-privacy-apple.html
…
Apple Boss Takes Aim at 'Weaponization' of Customer Data
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Wednesday said customer
data was being "weaponized with military efficiency" by companies to
increase profit and called for a federal privacy law in the United...
nytimes.com
Alex Stamos
✔
@alexstamos
Gotta catch a flight. I think the tech press can cheer on
calls for more privacy regulation in the US, but they can also use this moment
to advocate for the privacy rights of not just Chinese citizens, but those of
countries who are looking to follow the PRC model of control.
1:22 PM - Oct 24, 2018
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