{"id":18760,"date":"2022-04-13T10:30:09","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T18:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2022\/04\/13\/news-12493\/"},"modified":"2022-04-13T10:30:09","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T18:30:09","slug":"news-12493","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2022\/04\/13\/news-12493\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple has good privacy arguments, but critics aren't listening"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2022 09:41:00 -0700<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apple CEO Tim Cook this week warned that regulators are on the edge of making poor decisions that will impact our future during a passionate speech\u00a0in defense of personal privacy<\/a>\u00a0and his company\u2019s business models at the Global Privacy Summit in Washington DC.<\/p>\n

The thrust of Cook\u2019s argument is that privacy and security are essential building blocks of trust for a technologically advanced society. But that huge potential is being constrained by surveillance and insecurity.<\/p>\n

Just as unfettered tracking of where we go online invades privacy, mandatory requirements for security back doors<\/a> governments can use (and\u00a0criminals can steal<\/a>) to peer inside a device makes every connected person or device more insecure.<\/p>\n

Cook cited the father of data privacy law, Alan Westin,\u00a0as he warned about the consequences of sideloading apps<\/a> on the iPhone. He even offered up provable instances in which sideloading on other platforms has undermined security, arguing that the peace of mind offered by Apple\u2019s regulated store<\/a> is a choice customers should be allowed to take.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnology is neither inherently good, nor inherently bad,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s what we make of it. It is a mirror that reflects the ambitions and intentions of the people who use it. The people who build it. And the people who regulate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem with Apple\u2019s passionate stance on privacy and user security is that the people attacking its position aren\u2019t interested in the same thing.\u00a0Apple sees how responsible tech can enable a connected and convenient world, generating millions of new business opportunities, protecting people, and coalescing around shared, collective values.<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s critics don\u2019t see it the same way.\u00a0In their world, privacy and security aren\u2019t human rights, and the data generated as we go about our digital lives should be a business opportunity for them.\u00a0If your online security or the fabric of your society suffers as a result, that\u2019s just a consequence of them doing business with your destiny.<\/p>\n

These forces despise Apple\u2019s “walled garden.” Indeed, they argue that the garden, a pillar of the company\u2019s product proposal, is itself anti-competitive.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t agree. To take an analogy, I see that as the kind of argument knotweed would make if it was forbidden from taking root in a nicely manicured lawn. Spraying weed killer on invasive species is an appropriate response.\u00a0It\u2019s a policy choice.<\/p>\n

As Cook noted, Westin saw this coming.\u00a0In 1968 he explained that: \u201cPrivacy is the claim of individuals or groups or institutions to determine for themselves the when, how and to what extent information about themselves is communicated to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apple is arguing to give users that choice. Its critics want to make that choice as limited as possible. The same people who argue that Apple\u2019s business model makes privacy and security a commodity also want to force Cupertino to undermine both.<\/p>\n

I feel that the arguments come from a toxic stew of forces comprising useful idiots, financial self-interest, authoritarian control freaks, and free market ideologues.<\/p>\n

In this context, Cook\u2019s arguments aren\u2019t being heard.<\/p>\n

You can see the evidence. It\u2019s telling that while Apple is being forced to play defense on the topic of our individual right to privacy, many in the media insist on telling us how many millions Meta “lost”<\/a> as a result of Apple\u2019s defense of us.\u00a0They rarely, if ever, stop to question the legitimacy of the intrusive, surveillance-based business plan Apple is standing against.<\/p>\n

Cook seems really concerned about this direction of travel, warning that changes regulators want to make, \u201cmean data-hungry companies would be able to avoid our privacy rules, and once again track our users against their will.\u201d<\/p>\n

The thing is, once you understand that it doesn\u2019t matter how good Apple\u2019s arguments are, it becomes clear Apple is going to have to change its approach.<\/p>\n

To protect the most critical sectors \u2014 in this case, personal privacy and security \u2014 the company will need to develop constructive compromises.<\/p>\n

The current direction of travel means the company will inevitably be forced to follow regulations we already expect will be created by people who don’t understood the nuances of what they are demanding.<\/p>\n

Bad laws deliver bad outcomes.\u00a0Perhaps it\u2019s not too late for Apple to return to the regulators, repeat its position, and offer other concessions in exchange for maintaining user security.\u00a0Perhaps there\u2019s some way actions can be stayed pending a more constructive process of dialog and agreement.<\/p>\n

There will need to be sacrifices.<\/p>\n

What is the biggest challenge to the company moving forward? Maintaining that 30% (really 15%) fee on App Store sales, or ensuring that its platform remains private and secure for the benefit of all its customers?<\/p>\n

Zooming out, for me the big picture is that Apple will need to concede some of the things it wants to defend in order to effectively \u2014 and hopefully permanently \u2014 protect what it absolutely must defend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a pivotal moment in the battle for privacy,\u201d Cook warned.\u00a0\u201cLet us protect our data and secure our digital world. And let us be clear that privacy cannot and will not become a relic of the past.”<\/p>\n

Amen to that.<\/p>\n

Please follow me on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, or join me in the\u00a0AppleHolic\u2019s bar & grill<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Apple Discussions<\/a>\u00a0groups on MeWe.<\/em><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.computerworld.com\/category\/security\/index.rss<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Credit to Author: Jonny Evans| Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2022 09:41:00 -0700<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Apple CEO Tim Cook this week warned that regulators are on the edge of making poor decisions that will impact our future during a passionate speech\u00a0in defense of personal privacy<\/a>\u00a0and his company\u2019s business models at the Global Privacy Summit in Washington DC.<\/p>\n

Neither good nor evil<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The thrust of Cook\u2019s argument is that privacy and security are essential building blocks of trust for a technologically advanced society. But that huge potential is being constrained by surveillance and insecurity.<\/p>\n

To read this article in full, please click here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[11062,10643],"tags":[2211,10554,5897,714,24580],"class_list":["post-18760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computerworld","category-independent","tag-apple","tag-mobile","tag-privacy","tag-security","tag-small-and-medium-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}