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Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

techcrunch.com

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Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#301

Post by burtonator »

burtonator wrote: post #258

I'd like to think I'm one of the good guys here. I was one of the inventors of RSS and Atom and worked to push open content and social media. I started a social data search platform named Datastreamer ( http://www.datastreamer.io/ ) which is basically a petabyte-scale content indexing engine. We provide API feeds to search engines and social media analytics companies needing bulk data but don't want to have to build…

By other companies I mean companies like Cambridge Analytica.

There are tons of other shady companies out there doing nefarious things with your data.

We're going to need platforms that support group encryption and better security for apps.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#302

Post by RankingMember »

EastSmith wrote: post #78

I have owned couple of google phones (Nexus and Pixel). Today for the first time ever I am considering buying an iPhone. I would pay premium for privacy on Google devices if they make it available. And we now know what the price is - $40 in EU. Just sell it like this Google.

I'm hovering in the same airspace (thinking about an XR), though not certain I'll go that way in the end vs buying a Pixel 2 for literally half the price once Google inevitably drops their price. Seeing a trillion-dollar company stand up for privacy, whether for altruistic reasons or not, really makes me want to support them.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#303

Post by kodablah »

burtonator wrote: post #258

I'd like to think I'm one of the good guys here. I was one of the inventors of RSS and Atom and worked to push open content and social media. I started a social data search platform named Datastreamer ( http://www.datastreamer.io/ ) which is basically a petabyte-scale content indexing engine. We provide API feeds to search engines and social media analytics companies needing bulk data but don't want to have to build…

> We're actually losing business to other companies that are performing highly unethical and probably illegal techniques.

And you always will. Principles and money are often at odds. This is not an easily fixable problem as the well-intended solutions often cause more problems. Enforcement of existing statutes and accepting legal-yet-unethical practices is unfortunately the most rational approach.

> We just can't compete with data at that type of fidelity.

Only in a situation where interminable growth is required in a race to the top. Otherwise, there's room for everyone and that's why there are thousands of software products that "compete" just fine. The key is just making sure there are platforms that allow everyone to build everything.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#304

Post by fhood »

School-Cotton wrote: post #251
chongli wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you suggest Apple should do instead of comply with the law? Require it's employees to incriminate themselves? I'm not the GP but I've seen this exact form of complaint many times. I think the usual response is "stop doing business in China." I don't know how that's supposed to work, though, since Chinese companies make all of Apple's hardware.

Chinese companies assemble Apple’s hardware. The phase of iPhone manufacture that’s done in China involves screwdrivers and glue, not high-tech fabs. It could be done elsewhere for a smaller price increase than you might expect.

I read somewhere that the issue is (for almost all electronics manufacturers) that all of those hi-tech fabs are also physically located in China, so you save a great deal of money and time.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#305

Post by macintux »

Tehnix wrote: post #281
tananaev wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are ways to make it user friendly. iOS can provide some kind of API that apps can use to explicitly request user to switch location services on. Just like permissions. They can also have an option is settings to ONLY allow foreground app to use location service. I bet most people don't want random apps to know their location in the background. They only want location when they know what it's used for (e.g. Goog…

For the second point: Settings -> Privacy -> Location Services and then set the app to “While using the app”.

That's not quite the same thing, because with that setting apps can run in the background and continue to track your location. Usually you want this (e.g., Waze), but not always (e.g., Uber).

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#306

Post by fhood »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #146
tomelders wrote: post #105

Well done everyone. Never let the actual content of an article get in the way of some good old Apple bashing. At the time of writing, I can only find one top level comment (by 'dvfjsdhgfv') that's making any attempt to discuss or expand upon the content of Cook's comments. This is one of the most important issues facing mankind, and the ball is very much in our court. We all get plenty of opportunities to criticise o…

> This is one of the most important issues facing mankind I'm not even sure it rates in the top 50 outside of paranoid tech workers with nothing more important to worry about.

Hmm, I mean I'll take climate change, racism, education, and some particularly nasty geopolitical issues above it, but other than that, I would say it ranks pretty high.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#307

Post by rubatuga »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #284
Spooky23 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. They own like 50% of the market. They position like 1960 GM. The $1,500 iPhone is the aspirational thing that everyone talks about. If you have money, you buy the iPhone Xs (ie the Cadillac), if you want to look "better", buy the Xr (Buick), if you don't care, you buy the iPhone 7 (the Chevy). There is almost nothing that the $1,500 phone does that the $1 phone does not. The cheapo androids are more like…

Where is your evidence supporting the claim that Apple owns 50% of the market? That is way above the figures I have seen. Seems to me you are just pulling metrics out of thin air in this post.

Also, they're probably implying the US market.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#308

Post by da_chicken »

burtonator wrote: post #258

I'd like to think I'm one of the good guys here. I was one of the inventors of RSS and Atom and worked to push open content and social media. I started a social data search platform named Datastreamer ( http://www.datastreamer.io/ ) which is basically a petabyte-scale content indexing engine. We provide API feeds to search engines and social media analytics companies needing bulk data but don't want to have to build…

And people wonder why I've argued that, at some point, IT needs to be a certified and regulated profession like lawyers, doctors, engineers, nurses, pilots, accountants, electricians, plumbers, teachers, etc. If the future is going to be built using software and data, it's probably going to be essential that the general public have some agency -- public or private -- to safeguard the public interest.

It takes years of dedication to be a professional electrician or plumber, but anybody off the street can build an application that aggregates personal information and isn't subject to any sort of regulation or oversight or system of professional ethics.

That doesn't just safeguard the public. It also safeguards the employed individuals when they say, "No, that is not allowed under the ethics of my profession."

This isn't about "let's make the government save us," it's about creating a legal framework to protect the interests of the public and give ethical considerations in data management and software design some legal backing.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#309

Post by kayaknutrient »

leereeves wrote: post #181
mark_l_watson wrote: post #32

I like Tim Cook, I think his heart is in the right place and as much as a corporation can, Apple generally does the right thing. I was having lunch with several lawyers at my company a few weeks ago. One of them was talking strongly about quality devices and Apple’s strong privacy stance. He literally said that we as a society should be grateful for having Apple.

Apple sells a walled garden that controls what software you can use, forces upgrades by forbidding repairs and slowing down old phones with software updates, and sells more dongles by eliminating features and changing ports in every generation of their products. I admit they are better than Google on the privacy issue, but should we be grateful for having an alternative that abuses us in different ways?

Yes. There are different degrees of bad. I'll take the hardware walled garden and data protection over the other bads.

Re: Tim Cook makes blistering attack on the “data industrial complex”

#310

Post by tomelders »

fhood wrote: post #306
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is one of the most important issues facing mankind I'm not even sure it rates in the top 50 outside of paranoid tech workers with nothing more important to worry about.

Hmm, I mean I'll take climate change, racism, education, and some particularly nasty geopolitical issues above it, but other than that, I would say it ranks pretty high.

I'd argue that the weaponisation of personal data and hyper targeted advertisements/disinformation are making all of those issues worse. It's what has created the current wave of climate change denying nazi sympathising maniacs to grow.
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