Apple CEO Cook calls for U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation in TIME op-ed

“In 2019, it’s time to stand up for the right to privacy—yours, mine, all of ours,” Apple CEO Tim Cook writes in an op-ed for TIME Magazine. “Consumers shouldn’t have to tolerate another year of companies irresponsibly amassing huge user profiles, data breaches that seem out of control and the vanishing ability to control our own digital lives.”

“This problem is solvable—it isn’t too big, too challenging or too late. Innovation, breakthrough ideas and great features can go hand in hand with user privacy—and they must. Realizing technology’s potential depends on it,” Cook writes. “That’s why I and others are calling on the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive federal privacy legislation—a landmark package of reforms that protect and empower the consumer. ”

“We believe the Federal Trade Commission should establish a data-broker clearinghouse, requiring all data brokers to register, enabling consumers to track the transactions that have bundled and sold their data from place to place, and giving users the power to delete their data on demand, freely, easily and online, once and for all,” Cook writes. “As this debate kicks off, there will be plenty of proposals and competing interests for policymakers to consider. We cannot lose sight of the most important constituency: individuals trying to win back their right to privacy.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Last year, before a global body of privacy regulators, Cook reminds us in his full op-ed, Apple’s CEO laid out four principles that he believes should guide privacy legislation:

First, the right to have personal data minimized. Companies should challenge themselves to strip identifying information from customer data or avoid collecting it in the first place.

Second, the right to knowledge—to know what data is being collected and why.

Third, the right to access. Companies should make it easy for you to access, correct and delete your personal data.

And fourth, the right to data security, without which trust is impossible.

Here’s hoping that 2019 is the year when the insanity finally stops! If it takes an act of Congress for the right to privacy to be restored, so be it. May our elected officials find the will to resist the lobbyist onslaught from the likes of privacy-trampling Google and Facebook, personal data abusers.

SEE ALSO:
Senator Marco Rubio introduces privacy bill to create federal regulations on data collection – January 16, 2019
Apple endorses comprehensive privacy legislation in U.S. Senate testimony – September 26, 2018
Trump administration working on federal data privacy policy – July 27, 2018
California’s data privacy law highlights growing frustration with tech industry – July 17, 2018
U.S. House Republicans demand answers from Apple, Google on privacy, data practices – July 9, 2018
California lawmakers approve data-privacy bill despite opposition from Google, Facebook, advertisers – June 29, 2018