A high-level Apple executive will tell the the U.S. senate tomorrow that the iPhone maker is in favor of federal privacy regulations.
He’ll be testifying along with representatives of Google and other companies likely to argue against privacy laws.
Apple’s Senate testimony will come from Guy L. “Bud” Tribble, VP of Software Technology and one of the designers of the original Macintosh. He’s part of an internal Apple privacy committee who must sign off on any collection of user data.
Apple favors privacy legislation
Tribble’s pre-prepared notes for tomorrow’s testimony were leaked to Axios, who reports that the executive will tell the Senate “Privacy is a core value at Apple, not an obligation or an aftermarket add-on.”
He’ll “convey Apple’s support for comprehensive federal privacy legislation that reflects Apple’s long-held view that privacy is a fundamental human right.”
Tribble’s testimony will also say “We want your device to know everything about you; we don’t feel that we should.”
Apple vs. Google, Facebook, etc.
As the Apple executive will point out, a commitment to privacy isn’t new. Apple makes money by selling hardware and software, not the personal details of its users.
In contrast, the business model of Google, Facebook, and others is to gather personal information about users and sell it to advertisers. These companies offer “free” products in exchange for collecting data about the users.
Hence their diametrically opposing views on federal privacy regulations.
