‘You should be in control of your data’, says Apple CEO Tim Cook on privacy 

Apple Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook said that privacy is a user’s fundamental right and that Apple builds it into its products and services. He added that users should be in control of your data and not its highest bidder.  

Cook tweeted, “Privacy is a fundamental right and we build it into all products and services at Apple. You should be in control of your data--- not the highest bidder.” 

Cook also shared the link to a one-minute-34-second video. This video begins with a young woman looking through stuff in her room with More Giraffes and Sweater Beats’ Playground playing in the background.  

She then heads to a room which has a sign reading Ellie’s Data Auction written on its board. Here, she witnesses a one-of-its-kind auction wherein the auctioneer says, “The next sale is a digital treasure trove. Charming Ellie’s private data.”  

The first lot comprises her emails, which gets sold at $280. Second lot comprises Ellie’s drugstore purchases and gets sold at $500. Third lot is her location data, which gets sold at $660. During this bid, the auctioneer says, “It’s not creepy, it’s commerce.”  

Some other items on sale include her Nana, her recent transactions, her browsing history and her late-night texts, all of which get sold. After this, the auctioneer says, “And now the one you’ve all been waiting for and I can promise you won’t be disappointed.”  

Ellie then takes her iPhone out and selects “Ask App Not to Track” option in the dialog window reading, “Allow “Carry out” to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites?” All the items on the stage and crowd members start disappearing after this and Ellie selects “Protect Mail Activity” in the Mail Privacy Protection option on her iPhone.  

The video ends with the message, “It’s your data. iPhone helps it keep that way” and says “Privacy. That’s iPhone.”