Tim Cook Takes a Huge Potshot On Arch Rivals Over Data Privacy

Tim Cook recently took a huge potshot on arch rivals such as Facebook and Google over data privacy, saying we should not choose between security and privacy. Cook was speaking at D.C.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) where he was honored.

"I'm speaking to you from Silicon Valley where some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information. They're gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it. We think that's wrong. And it's not the kind of company that Apple wants to be. So we don't want your data," Cook said in the speech.

"We don't think they're worth have your email or your search history or now even your family photos data-mined and sold-off for God-knows-what advertising purpose," said Cook.

EPIC's award has also been given to Edward Snowden, Senators Rand Paul and Patrick Leahy and this is the first time it has been given to a business leader.

"If you put a key under a mat just for the cops, a burglar can find it, too," said Cook. "Criminals are using every technology tool at their disposal to hack into people's accounts. If they know there is a key hidden somewhere, they won't stop until they find it."

Cook added these efforts have "a chilling effect on our first amendment rights, and undermine our county's founding principles."

The targets of Cook speech, Facebook and Google, often use anonymized data to deliver targeted advertising.

Cook insisted that consumers should not have to choose between privacy and security. "We can and we must provide both in equal measure," he told the EPIC audience.