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Tim Cook Says Ads That Follow You Online Are 'Creepy' (cnet.com)
In a wide-ranging interview with MSNBC and Recode, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that everyone should know how much data they're sharing and what can be inferred about us from that information. He added that privacy "is a human right" and said he's worried about how advertisers and others can abuse access to our data. "To me it's creepy when I look at something and all of a sudden it's chasing me all the way across the web," Cook said. "I don't like that." CNET reports: The comments came as part of a wide-ranging interview between Cook, MSNBC's Chris Hayes and Recode's Kara Swisher. MSNBC broadcast the special, named "Revolution: Apple changing the world" at 5 p.m. PT on Friday. The interview was taped the day after Apple's education event in Chicago, where the company introduced a new 9.7-inch iPad and tools for teachers. The two publications released some early clips and comments from Cook over the past couple of weeks. That included remarks he made about Facebook and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Cook noted that Apple purposely chose not to make "a ton of money" off its customers' data and that Facebook failed to effectively regulate itself, prompting a need for government intervention. Along with Facebook and its privacy issues, Cook talked up DACA and immigration, tax reform, the changing job landscape and the need for everyone to learn coding, among other topics.
Cook yapps out of both sides of his mouth. On the one hand, he claims to support privacy. On the other hand, Apple is nudging users against local storage and to Apple's own cloud services. Cloud = someone else's computer, and it's not really private unless you implement your own key management.
If Cook were truly about privacy, Apple wouldn't be deprecating OS X Server -- i.e. support for local storage in corporate environments. They'd be building Mac OS to encrypt by default, but building their machines to allow easily upgraded LOCAL storage, for those that don't trust the cloud. They'd be including more robust local sync options in iOS devices.
Walled garden is a prison, not privacy. And the business model that Steve Jobs pioneered with iOS is a big part of the reason for loss of privacy today. Apple's attitude is paternalistic and condescending -- either trust us or go sod off.
Motivation? To push people towards Apple's walled garden and cloud storage, at the expense of less-private solutions. But also at the expense of things that offer MORE privacy, like encrypted local storage or even isolated intranet-based storage.
Basically, to get his name in the headlines and make dough for Apple.
Just imagine: -
You see an interesting video but when you click the link, you're "welcomed" by an uninvited ad! What I do in this case is to mute the sound, an occasionally close my eyes for a few moments. It works most of the time.
Trouble is, even when you forward the video, you'll be confronted with an ad!
I hate ads but will also not pay up in order to avoid them. I know I am not alone.
We'll put you in a nice padded jail where you won't have to mix with the more uncouth inmates in our prison system. Apple's ecosystem is still a panopticon, but it's like the jails where they send Wall Street criminals as opposed to the jail where they send violent inmates.
Every time you use a Facebook or Google service... that's what you vote for. Online surveillance capitalism.
Every time you allow your computer to load and run a tracking javascript from some web site... that's what you vote for.
Every time you load a "web bug"... that's what you vote for.
Every time you buy a device where someone else has more authority over it than you do, which may restrict your ability to exercise control over what the device is allowed to do... that's what you vote for.
If you've ever clicked on a banner ad, you helped us get here.
We didn't get here via foul magic, we got here because billions of people allowed things others of us see as flat out unacceptable.
Stop voting to turn the net into a shitfest of surveillance capitalism.
why do they think that if I see the ads for a giant razor to shave my back enough times that I'll eventually want one ? Let them waste their money, it's become a joke now. I might even deliberately go looking for more ridiculous products and collect the ads as webpage bling.
Nullius in verba
"Why didn't you design Facebook from the beginning to honor requests by users to have files deleted instead of just hiding the files someplace and pretending that they'd been deleted?"
Good, inexpensive web hosting
While Tim Cook is certainly right that being tracked for advertisement purposes is creepy and should not happen, it is just as creepy if there is one company that decides what software my hardware is allowed to run, even taking a third of revenue made with it, if it is commercial.
So, Tim, as long as Apple puts its buyers under tutelage, you are just as creepy as the stuff you criticize.
Despite my criticisms of Tim Cook using Apple as his personal political platform, he and the company been vocal advocates of user privacy and rights. Compared to the rest of Silicon Valley and how they view users, Apple has been truly fantastic.
HOWEVER, I agree with you that here are a lot more things, some fairly simple, that Apple should be doing to back up their words with actions. Here's just a few:
1. Loosen restrictions on VPN protocols in iOS. Everyone knows the industry standard is OpenVPN, but Apple basically restricts VPN providers from implementing OpenVPN natively in their iOS apps, forcing users to resort to L2TP or IKEv2 (or set up their cknnectjkn manually using the OpenVPN app). This is cumbersome and gets in the way of good security.
2. Set StartPage as the default search engine in iOS Safari (rather than Google). StartPage returns Google results, but securely and privately. Adding DuckDuckGo a few years back was good, but most users stick with defaults and most users want Google results. So give them Google results securely and privately by making StartPage the default search engine.
3. Let alternative browsers on iOS submit DNT headers. Currently only Safari can do this. In fact, Apple needs to signicsntly lessen restrictions on alternative browsers, including letting users set a different browser as default over Safari. At least do this with browsers that have proven security credentials, like Firefox, Ghostery and Brave. But the way Apple has handled iOS browsing has been very anti-security. They took a long time to get around to fixing the HSTS supercookie bug in Safari, and then in iOS 11 created a HUGE WebRTC leak issue in most every other browser that is still unpatched. Why isn't this a priority?
4. The first four were easy; this one is going to hurt. Cook, it's time to start open sourcing some of Apple's code. The amount of simple but critical bugs found in OSX recently is insane. At the very least, start by implementing a policy that once an OS major version number is two or three years old, it's published open source. This will build trust amongst users and help researchers find bugs, while also protecting your most current developments as proprietary.
"Why didn't you design Facebook from the beginning to honor requests by users to have files deleted instead of just hiding the files someplace and pretending that they'd been deleted?"
"Mr. Senator, we are all about connecting people. In order to better connect people we need to better understand them. Sometimes, people inadvertently delete things that would help us to better understand them, and better connect them well. So it's better for them if we save stuff that they think they should delete."
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
We have a winner!
We get it. You don't like Apple. You've repeated the same nonsense a couple times already.
No one is forcing anyone to use Apple, and you're more then welcome to not use iCloud on any Apple device. You can attach as much local storage as you want to a macOS machine. You don't have to use iCloud with iOS, and with recent iOS versions you have your choice of multiple cloud storage providers. You can even use local network storage if you wish. For example I use the FileBrowser app which can connect to my local network storage devices over SMB. I can then access those devices via the FileBrowser storage provider in any iOS app thats been updated to support it (ie Word, etc.. ).
So no. You don't have to use cloud storage.
...iAds.
AC comments get piped to
Seems like he's on a roll these days thinking he can score browny points taking stabs at Facebook, Google, etc. but pretty much anything he says is just a shallow sound bite for the benefit of the fanboys (and the press).
AC comments get piped to
No, I'd say it's also wrong, but it's not as creepy.
There's two creepiness factor differences here. (1) Apple's walled-garden is not clandestine. You buy an iPhone you're buying into that garden. Internet tracking happens without your even implied consent. (2) Apple's hegemony has a clear limitation: Apple's mobile devices. That makes it trivial to escape: you just use a different vendor's phone. Internet monitoring is pervasive; you can't escape it no matter where you try to go with your browser.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
The point Cook is making is that even if you mute that video and close your eyes, you'll still see that same ad (or at least one for that some product) on an entirely different site. That is the creepy part, that sites across the internet suddenly seem to know what you have been looking at.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
With cookies. And they're stupid cookies. If you research a product online and buy it, the cookies follow you around for months afterwards. Sorry, too late. Why is that creepy? It's not as if they are AI. .
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
I don't like any of the cloudpushing companies. Not Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, or Google. My point is that they're all crap in different ways. Apple is better as far as privacy, but worse as far as being able to escape their padded prison cell.
Pot? Kettle? Anyone?
Stalking.
Just asking.
---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
Every time you allow your computer to load and run a tracking javascript from some web site... that's what you vote for.
Hence my use of the Tracking Protection feature in Firefox. Hence my use of AllTheTropes.org instead of TVTropes.org.
Every time you buy a device where someone else has more authority over it than you do, which may restrict your ability to exercise control over what the device is allowed to do... that's what you vote for.
So how would I go about voting against computing devices that restrict the owner, other than not buying any computing device at all and thereby not having my business needs met? I tried buying a subnotebook PC that respects my freedom as best I could, only for others to outvote me, leading to the discontinuation of the entry-level subnotebook PC segment.
Nice marketing. I think companies that throttle old hardware to encourage replacement, and glue together hardware to make them unrepairable are creepy, too.
Tim Cook takes cheap shots at anyone in tech who is a Billionaire and isn't Apple.
The question isn't if he is right or wrong. The question is - what is his motivation?
No, stop overthinking this, it's really simple. Apparently Tim Cook said that ads that follow you online are 'creepy' and you know what? He's right!! ... they are creepy. End of story.
All these big companies brag about their ad targeting and blah blah blah artificial intelligence blah blah.... and in reality, all they do is try to advertise to me repeatedly the thing I JUST ALREADY FUCKING BOUGHT. So... yeah, good going there. I just bought a new big screen flat panel televsision... so the smart thing to do is to start throwing constant ads about big screen televisions to me..... you know â" the thing inJUST bought and wonâ(TM)t be in the market again for a decade or two...
As long as the walled garden surrounds me I don't give a crap. The current system is corrupt shite. So instead of Tim Cook just saying stuff, how about doing stuff. Like a massively multiplayer online social media web site using avatars with attached varied game zones. A place for people to play, not attack each other. Lets see actions not words, lets see some concrete plans, not empty statements. Want better Tim Cook, do better, you have the tools and you have the knowledge, so put it together.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Everyone does not need to learn to farm, be a police officer, be a politician, beautician, actor, painter, composer, or any other particular skill.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
They creep me out and I will take my business elsewhere.
The most annoying thing is that the adverts pop up after Iâ(TM)ve searched for and bought the product I want.
Not only do these ads fail to impart any new info to me, they actually put me off the brands being advertised.
Iâ(TM)ve contacted a couple of the vendors I buy fromto explain how the ads put me off buying again, but have never managed to find someone who understood.
Even better would be the ability to edit the hosts file, or an application firewall to block specific domains by app or system wide.
Yes, I realize that's a power user feature that can likely break functionality. But there's no reason why every little app should be able to siphon up analytics data every time I use it. We can already control some aspects of what an app has access to (contacts, microphone, etc) but should be able to decide "this is a solitaire game, it shouldn't need internet access".
Because fuck you, that's why.
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
Took a private Dr. consultation. There were two humans present. Three hours later " Flonase" ads start streaming in on my cell phone Safari browser. We talked specifically about Flonase Rx. I'm not a conspiracist.
Last week watching Sports Channel an advertisement ran. Minutes later a news article flows into my feed. You guessed right if you reckon this coincidence was too close for comfort. It beyond uncomfortable. An injected ' news article' didn't pass as news nor coincidental.
There's a problem with cellular technology. Its not enough to put it away in a pocket. Its probably not enough to turn your wireless off. Cellular handsets listen when I think they should not even be capable of it. Its Apple's problem, every phone manufacturer and it's every developer whose software that runs on those phones.
So fake news be it whatever no matter I live in a free world. I have options. I don't have patience when it comes to a Right to privacy.
Please people, use our safe iAds which are totally not Apple following you around the internet
Apple discontinued iAds in June, 2016.
Do try to keep up, Cowardly Hater Putz.
While Tim Cook is certainly right that being tracked for advertisement purposes is creepy and should not happen, it is just as creepy if there is one company that decides what software my hardware is allowed to run, even taking a third of revenue made with it, if it is commercial.
So, Tim, as long as Apple puts its buyers under tutelage, you are just as creepy as the stuff you criticize.
So, just HOW much would meet with your Highness' approval, for handling payments, bandwidth, advertising, updates and having a one-stop storefront that anyone who wants an App knows EXACTLY where to go to find it?
Oh, and don't forget, Apple ALSO hosts, advertises, updates etc. all those FREE Apps. I guess they're being greedy taking 30% of ZERO there, too, right?
And if Apple was being so greedy, don't you think the other "App Stores" like Google Play and Amazon would charge far less, just to be able to brag about it?
No, I'd say it's also wrong, but it's not as creepy.
There's two creepiness factor differences here. (1) Apple's walled-garden is not clandestine. You buy an iPhone you're buying into that garden. Internet tracking happens without your even implied consent. (2) Apple's hegemony has a clear limitation: Apple's mobile devices. That makes it trivial to escape: you just use a different vendor's phone. Internet monitoring is pervasive; you can't escape it no matter where you try to go with your browser.
Well said!
it is just as creepy if there is one company that decides what software my hardware is allowed to run
OSX comes with full developer tools, you can compile anything you want to.
I've said that for YEARS.
And it's STILL true!
Actually, you're forced to develop the apps for your iPhone on OSX. The main thing at this point keeping the Mac alive is that it's the ONLY way to develop apps for iOS. On the day when Xcode becomes available for Linux and FreeBSD the Mac will be deprecated and obsolete.
I keep looking, but Xcode still isn't available in pkgsrc for NetBSD.
You're an idiot.
And you'll see next year just how much of an idiot.
"To me it's creepy when I look at something and all of a sudden it's chasing me all the way across the web" Cook said. "I don't like that."
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And Facebook says it's creepy to remove features from hardware and then gouge customers on adapters. Whoop dee fuckin' doo.
Tim Cook takes cheap shots at anyone in tech who is a Billionaire and isn't Apple.
The question isn't if he is right or wrong. The question is - what is his motivation?
Actually, no. The question is whether he is right or wrong. Stop trying to qui bono everything -- it's actually possible to have a discussion and come to conclusions based solely on rational argument and debate, ya know.
Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
I am not a shill for any company.
You can sync your iOS devices easily to local storage.
How does this work without using a Mac or a PC running a Microsoft operating system?
You save your data either on the local hard disk, on a USB source, or on a network source over any of the standard protocols.
Network source I understand, but not the other two. An iOS device has no "local hard disk". Instead, it has an internal flash memory, which is fairly small on entry-level models. Nor does it have a USB port. Instead, it has a Lightning port.
I remembered vaguely that there was some means to connect digital cameras. After a bit of web searching, I discovered that Apple had introduced support for devices other than cameras through the Apple USB Camera Adapter. It mentions "SD card readers", which I presume to include all storage devices formatted to a Microsoft FAT family file system. However, conventional hard drives will produce "attached accessory uses too much power" unless the drive is connected through a self-powered hub or the adapter is the new revision that supports USB 3. What types of data on an iOS device can and can't be synced through an Apple USB Camera Adapter?