Edward Snowden argues Apple CEO Tim Cook likely to keep privacy promises
Apple CEO Tim Cook is likely to keep his promises on user privacy, said whistleblower and ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, commenting by video during a Wednesday conference in Barcelona, Spain. He cautioned however that people should be willing to abandon Apple if it backtracks.
via TechCrunch
"I think in the current situation, it doesn't matter if he's being honest or dishonest," Snowden told TechCrunch, responding to questions about whether Cook meant recent statements at an Electronic Privacy Information Center event. There the executive accused many companies of "gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it," claiming that such actions are "not the kind of company that Apple wants to be."
Snowden argued that what's important is that Cook has "obviously got a commercial incentive" to differentiate Apple from rivals like Google, and that the company's preference for pushing hardware over selling data benefits privacy, and is something the public should back for the time being.
He remarked that "a much bigger hammer" should fall on Apple if Cook reverses policies, since it would be a "betrayal of trust" and past promises. "But I would like to think that based on the leadership that Tim Cook has shown on this position so far, he's spoken very passionately about private issues, that we're going to see that continue and he'll keep those promises," Snowden concluded.
Since 2013 Snowden has leaked secrets about data collection conducted by the NSA and other intelligence agencies, which has often been wide-ranging, indiscriminate, and exploiting security gaps in modern computers and mobile devices. In many cases such agencies have had the cooperation -- willing or unwilling -- of major technology corporations such as AT&T, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Verizon.
Apple has denied being familiar with the NSA's PRISM program or providing direct access to servers. Documents released by Snowden show that PRISM began scooping up Apple data in October 2012, though perhaps not with the company's consent.
via TechCrunch
"I think in the current situation, it doesn't matter if he's being honest or dishonest," Snowden told TechCrunch, responding to questions about whether Cook meant recent statements at an Electronic Privacy Information Center event. There the executive accused many companies of "gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it," claiming that such actions are "not the kind of company that Apple wants to be."
Snowden argued that what's important is that Cook has "obviously got a commercial incentive" to differentiate Apple from rivals like Google, and that the company's preference for pushing hardware over selling data benefits privacy, and is something the public should back for the time being.
He remarked that "a much bigger hammer" should fall on Apple if Cook reverses policies, since it would be a "betrayal of trust" and past promises. "But I would like to think that based on the leadership that Tim Cook has shown on this position so far, he's spoken very passionately about private issues, that we're going to see that continue and he'll keep those promises," Snowden concluded.
Since 2013 Snowden has leaked secrets about data collection conducted by the NSA and other intelligence agencies, which has often been wide-ranging, indiscriminate, and exploiting security gaps in modern computers and mobile devices. In many cases such agencies have had the cooperation -- willing or unwilling -- of major technology corporations such as AT&T, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Verizon.
Apple has denied being familiar with the NSA's PRISM program or providing direct access to servers. Documents released by Snowden show that PRISM began scooping up Apple data in October 2012, though perhaps not with the company's consent.
Comments
Snowden is probably one of the few Americans who could be called a true patriot. People like the above commeters are a big part of the problem.
He is a traitor and hopefully will pay the price some day.
Snowden is a whistleblower which is very different from being a traitor. The documentary Citizenfour is a great movie that sheds some light onto Snowden as a character and what drove him to do as he did. It is a chilling film and highly recommended.
The idea that only real men should have privacy because they are willing to risk the dangers that bring freedom to everybody is not an acceptable refuge from the real world dangers of powerful totalitarian states. Freedom is a human right not some thing that only the rich and powerful deserve to have. That said it is clear that giving a society a choice to seek freedom must come in the context of relative financial and physical security. The world needs a strong police force more than ever and the political will and financial calculus to exercise that power is not an easy one. If Africa, South America, and India all have the same kind of financial growth that China has found over the previous 25 years, then we will see a much safer world.
The other background to the security discussion needs to be a recognition that individual freedom combined with economic and especially technological success brings with it increasing levels of responsibility to be aware of what your neighbors are doing. In a world where many individuals have the power to hire a seat on a rocket, the dangers of terrorism become even more dire. Imagine an attempt to hijack a large rocket and the kind of explosive damage that such a device could have in the wrong hands. Assuming the fuel used in rockets does not become safer, we could have a major metropolitan center that is so contaminated in toxic waste as to be uninhabitable for years after an explosion. My point is that there is increasing danger from sick individuals as the technical power of each individual increases. Having a security service that studies the trends of behavior among all individuals in this world to avoid such catastrophes is not an unreasonable safety device. The same thing goes for a wired world where destruction of major communication and infrastructure services becomes possible for a knowledgable computer scientist.
Airing of Laundry - is that what this is? :no:
I wonder how come this traitor is still alive ?
Traitor to a government owned by big business and lobbyists, maybe.
Traitor to the people, no way.
Time to hold our governments accountable and take them back.
Yeah I'm sure there are people who would call ISIS freedom fighters too. :rolleyes:
Virtually everyone in a government leadership role, even those you'd expect to align with Snowden's privacy beliefs, have concluded after reviewing the relevant highly-classified documents that the U.S. got a great deal more benefit from these programs than the citizens gave up.
I view it as being akin to the NIH-mandated info sheet you receive with every prescription medicine..."Your physician has determined the benefits of taking this medication outweigh the risks."[/SIZE]
Snowden is probably one of the few Americans who could be called a true patriot. People like the above commeters are a big part of the problem.
I have always.. and still believe this. If Snowden was a "patriot" he would have vetted the documents before putting them in the hands of people/governments that could use them for ill purposes. But instead, he basically handed it the sharks. The information brought out was not exclusive to what the US government was doing to its people (which we already knew about since the true whistle blower exposed Room 641A in 2006) - but also it exposed a tremendous amount of sensitive information about US and UK operations well outside the context of the US citizens and deep into the world of true US and UK security.
So in short.. I too believe that Appleinsider should not have put their foot on this path of glorifying and/or legitimising Edward Snowden.
Btw - haven't you seen the news of late... how its now known that China and Russia have cracked open all the documents? Do you think Russia is good? I lived there for 8 years... and trust me... you know nothing!
What you have to consider is what price you and I and millions of other may have to pay in the future if Snowden had not acted.
Really? and where were you when Mark Klein put himself out to dry when he exposed what the NSA was doing in reference to Room 641A? This exposed exactly what was going on. In basic concept, Snowden did not reveal anything that wasn't already known in this regard. The problem was that people like yourself just ignored it and allowed the US congress to give AT&T amnesty over the matter as well as just simply ignore what was going. I remember this event very well... and I say bullocks to anyone who now calls Snowden a hero yet did nothing to support what Mark Klein exposed.
Btw - haven't you seen the news of late... how its now known that China and Russia have cracked open all the documents?
News???
http://blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/edward-snowden-publishing-position-government/25520
Snowden is a whistleblower which is very different from being a traitor. The documentary Citizenfour is a great movie that sheds some light onto Snowden as a character and what drove him to do as he did. It is a chilling film and highly recommended.
I feel he's a traitor. What was Snowden trying to prove when he released classified information about the U.S. hacking into Chinese telecommunications systems? This is China, a country that commits corporate espionage hacking into American companies to steal trade secrets. As for the releasing of the information on the surveillance of Americans, I can understand how some people see that as being a whistleblower, but giving classified information to the Russians and Chinese is treason.
News???
http://blogs.channel4.com/snowblog/edward-snowden-publishing-position-government/25520
There is much we as the common people will never know... and I do understand that situations are definitely used to help persuade others to follow a certain direction. But I find that there is always much much much more then meets the eye... and there is always a little bit of truth in good lies to help those lies seem true. All that being said... it does not negate what was exposed through his own hands (i.e. journalists) as well as knowing... and lets be real here... the Chinese did not play the white angel with Snowden when he and the journalists were in their territory. So do you honestly think the Chinese never gained access to those documents?
One's traitor is the other's freedom fighter. It is hard to call Snowden a traitor if you know anything about the subject. What you have to consider is what price you and I and millions of other may have to pay in the future if Snowden had not acted. The 'terrorism' card as it is not what this is about at all.
What price have we paid? Snowden released classified information to foreign governments, that's treason. NSA surveillance programs have been extremely beneficial to this country. NSA helped track the Berlin disco bomber by intercepting diplomatic messages and tracked the 9/11 terrorists from their phone surveillance program. I'm sure there are many other benefits of the surveillance we don't even know about.
In other words, who cares about the traitor.