“Edward Snowden thinks Apple’s new pledge to protect customer privacy is something worth supporting,” Kia Kokalitcheva reports for Fortune.
“Speaking at the Challenge.rs conference in Spain via video call Wednesday, the NSA whistleblower shared his thoughts about Apple CEO Tim Cook’s recent statements about customer privacy as it relates to Apple’s business model, TechCrunch reported,” Kokalitcheva reports. “Unlike many other companies, Apple says it doesn’t want to exploit users’ data and turn it into revenue.”
Kokalitcheva reports, “He added that now that Apple has taken a public stance on the issue, going back on its word later on will be even more damaging in the eyes of consumers as it would be ‘a betrayal of a promise.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple is all-in on this issue. And, it’s not that “new,” either:
We’ve always had a very different view of privacy than some of our colleagues in the Valley. We take privacy extremely seriously. That’s one of the reasons we have the curated apps store. We have rejected a lot of apps that want to take a lot of your personal data and suck it up into the cloud. Privacy means people know what they’re signing up for. In plain English, and repeatedly, that’s what it means. Ask them. Ask them every time. Make them tell you to stop asking if they get tired of your asking them. Let them know precisely what you’re going to do with their data. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs, June 2010
SEE ALSO:
Edward Snowden: Apple is a privacy pioneer – June 5, 2015
Edward Snowden’s privacy tips: ‘Get rid of Dropbox,” avoid Facebook and Google – October 13, 2014
Two of my heroes, both looking out for individuals.
Governments and corporations have successfully scaling down the legal and political rights of individuals in favor of themselves. Those who stand for individuals should be treasured.
The world would be a dark place without their efforts.
Who cares what that traitor thinks.👎
You mean all the traitors who run the NSA?
Too many in high places in WDC are betraying the trust we give them by selling favors for speaking fees.
Worse yet is the fees from foreign governments who are not exactly our friends.
Our government wanting back doors in all electronics means we will all be hacked by some smarter guy in some foreign country who cracks the backdoor, or, worse yet, someone in our government who sells the keys to the back door.
It is immoral to put in back doors.
This is like having Jeffrey Dahmer endorse you brand of cooking knives.
Which President from which party will be the first to “pardon” Snowden for exposing government illegalities?
Personally I believe Snowden is a traitor and deserves to be shared, tried and sent to prison. The alternative is that some one will have a friend or family member working undercover somewhere who is killed by Snowden and they will take care of things – no trial needed.
Either way suits me fine.
Let me get this right, you are encouraging someone to commit murder on a public forum?
You and your type are precisely why we we need privacy. I am sure you and your type would rather we skip all the little steps and go right to implanting chips at birth with a KILL switch in the NSA/CIA/FBI office so they can immediately eradicate anyone they don’t like.
Vile and disgusting creature you are!
Every person running for President should be asked what they would do about Ed Snowden. They should not be allowed to weasel, vacillate, equivocate or mumble.
To date, only Senator Bernie Sanders has said plainly that he is a hero and should be pardoned- not prosecuted.
I think he should get a Medal of Freedom.
All these people running, with the except of Trump, are all professional vacillaters, I mean politicians.
Trump is the only professional clown running in the election.
He is wrong! I am not on his side! The government is #1! I only use DDG because the colors are prettier! I am not able to use other than Apple computers because I am not smart enough for other kinds! USA is #1. I love President! Support our troops! I declare these are my words! It is light at noon! I pledge allegiance!
One party violates the Constitution of the United States. The other party violates a law designed to prevent citizens from discovering when their Constitutional rights are being violated.
And people call Snowden the traitor.
And you are a moron! Go back to using Commodore 64! Scratch that! Go back to using a Vic-20!
Commodore. Yeah! Vic. Yeah! So witty!
NOT!
You gotta love people whose best argument is: You are a moron! That shows a level of critical thinking that exemplifies people who still think the USA is still #1 in everything and the War of Terror is real.
Re-pube-licans and Demo-critts, two cheeks of the same backside.
Re-pub-lie-can’ts are better than Demonic-rats every damn time.
The Republicans gave Gestapo power to the NSA in order to control the American public; the Democrats swept in and did nothing to change that. Both parties believe the people must be controlled like cattle. “Everybody is a criminal; everybody does something illegal; and NSA will keep spying until that activity is discovered!”
Snowden is a low life traitor scum of the earth. I wish he would be tried for treason and executed on YouTube. This millennial pile of crap is the poster boy analsphincter.
I’d gladly provide a very LONG list of US government officials who require being tried for treason. MANY of those officials have been revealed to be treasonous specifically because of the brave and altruistic work of patriot Edward Snowden. That’s what history is going to tell. There’s nothing traitorous about Snowden. Would that MORE people working within #MyStupidGovernment were so brave and devoted to repairing the catastrophic mess both worthless political parties have done to my country, with more of their demolition ongoing right now.
And as usual, I’ll add that I cannot condone Snowden going to either China OR Russia in his efforts to be free from prosecution by the crooks in #MyStupidGovernment who have perpetrated and supported the destruction of the US Constitution. What an idiotic thing for him to do. Iceland, a terrific country, offered him asylum, repeatedly. Snowden ignored them. I cannot fathom why.
Are you kidding me!
He was stranded in a Russian Airport by yourstupidgovernment WHILE ON HIS WAY TO SOUTH AMERICA.
He had no choice. Every stupid European country also planned to turn him over to the gestapo in Washington.
I had no idea that was the situation Paul. If you’re the ‘Paul’ I know, I believe you! (I have yet to see the full documentary about the Snowden saga).
As to whether Iceland would have allowed extradition of Snowden to the USA, it’s doubtful. I say this because:
(A) Iceland specifically asked him to come for asylum.
(B) Iceland is know for having provided asylum in the past.
Here’s one supporting article:
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2013/06/5-countries-with-no-us-extradition-treaty.html
Honorable Mentions
If the above-mentioned countries fail to float your boat, consider this: Iceland, France, and Switzerland have been known to harbor U.S. fugitives, like sex-offender/film-maker Roman Polanski, despite having extradition treaties.
Russia apparently HAS an extradition treaty with the USA. But they are not honoring it, fortunately. I suppose Snowden is as safe there as anywhere. But now he’s living in what I consider a default criminal nation with far worse crimes than my chaotic nation.
First of all watch “Citizenfour”.
Second, you can’t get there from here without a passport. So ICELAND is out. So is anywhere else for that matter. France by the way is not the same France anymore. Especially because they are one of the FIVE EYES. Switzerland didn’t even offer.
Also, please don’t compare Roman Polanski case with this. Snowden, the US would kill. Polanski, on the other hand, the US just wants to be “seen” to be outraged about rather than any real substance.
I like how you call the US “chaotic”. Cute. But consider this. They have invaded over 75 countries in my life time and killed over a MILLION people in just the last war alone. They have in addition started wars under false pretences and outright lies. Please educate yourself and watch “The Real History of the US” by Oliver Stone.
I intend to watch “Citizenfour”. But for the moment, I have no interest in watching it for $15 from Amazon, Google or iTunes. That’s an absurd price request. A place called VUDU is asking $18. WTF is it with the price gouging for this documentary? Smells fishy.
No, Snowden would NOT require a passport to get into Iceland. I don’t know what you mean. If a country ASKS you to come there for asylum, NO visa to enter is required. Meanwhile, Snowden had a passport from the USA. Whether the USA honors it it irrelevant within this situation. Iceland would not care, which is what’s important.
I am not interested in studying France or Switzerland or Polanski today or any other vaguely tangential subjects. I’m really good at focus, another reason I love Apple.
Regarding any assumption that I have EVER defending the USA invading and killing anywhere for any reason: NO I have not. It’s an absurdity to make that assumption. I don’t need to educate myself on that subject. But thanks for offering a film to watch. Although I don’t see the point in considering Oliver Stone any expert on facts or reality. He’s a film maker, enough said.
The US revoked Snowden’s passport while he was transferring at Moscow airport. So he cannot legally travel to any of the countries offering him asylum.
I think the US did it both to punish Snowden, by stranding him in Russia, and to create the false impression that he has Russian sympathies, as people not knowing the details assume he is staying there by choice. Revoking his passport while he was at the Russian airport was a real dick move by the US.
Go read what I just posted to Paul. The passport issue is irrelevant regarding Iceland’s invitation. AND recall that Iceland asked him to come for asylum well before Snowden even considered going to Russia. There as a considerable period of time during which he was stuck in Hong Kong.
And yes, every move by the US regarding Snowden was a dick move. He is a bona fide whistleblower. It IS fair to say that the US caused Snowden to be stranded in Russia. That’s an excellent point.
Oh? Snowden desperate for attention, again?
This is the same guy that famously proclaimed that iPhones have an engineered backdoor for the government, and that’s why he isn’t using them – and now changes his tune 180 degrees.
Snowmen knows nothing and is a deeply troubled individual – who, unfortunately, is being hero-worshipped by many equally clueless and ignorant people.
How Apple is NOT keeping its privacy promise: At least SIX OS X and iOS security flaws are sitting on Apple’s back burner waiting for patches to be available to the public. Apple is refusing to fix one of those flaws: The ability to steal Enterprise created security certificates and stuff them into malware apps. It’s called the Masque Attack.
https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2014/11/masque-attack-all-your-ios-apps-belong-to-us.html
[And yes, I’m deliberately invoking fear, uncertainty and doubt. I’m ticked off at Apple and their LAZY attitude toward security at this specific point in time. They did a great job in 2014. They’ve fallen on their lazy ass in 2015.]
That sounds like a really, really obscure security problem. You would have to install the malware app outside of the App Store, using the enterprise provisioning system, which I’m pretty sure pelts you with many warnings along the lines of “app not verified by App Store” and “make sure you really trust this developer” before downloading. Even then, the malware App would have to have the same name as a third party app you already have installed. Who would go through such a shady process to download an unverified app they already have a copy of?
Apple should fix this potential issue regardless, but there’s no cause for rush and alarm. Would rather Apple take the time to figure out the best way to fix it and verify the fix doesn’t break anything, even if that means waiting for one or two major OS releases.
That sounds like a really, really obscure security problem.
Meaning, I assume, the Masque Attack.
To be honest, the six security flaws I keep referring to are all unworthy of panic. The problem is that last month the number of waiting security flaws was four. Now it’s six. And next week it will be…
They may be obscure, but they are now public. Which means, I assume, they can be used by someone with technical knowledge on the subject.
That would not include me.