Apple CEO Tim Cook has weighed in on Facebook’s most recent data scandal, promoting the idea of legislative regulations that would specify how tech companies can use customer data.
“I think that this certain situation is so dire and has become so large that probably some well-crafted regulation is necessary,” said Cook at the China Development Forum in Beijing, according to Bloomberg.
“The ability of anyone to know what you’ve been browsing about for years, who your contacts are, who their contacts are, things you like and dislike and every intimate detail of your life — from my own point of view, it shouldn’t exist,” Cook further stated.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also expressed support for the idea of outside regulation in a recent CNN interview.
The comments come following the Cambridge Analytica controversy.
Cambridge Analytica, a political data analytics firm, reportedly harvested 50 million user’s Facebook data without authorization in 2014.
After the whistle was blown on the Cambridge Analytica situation, more and more users have reviewed their privacy settings, leading to revelations about the amount of third-party apps that access personal information from private accounts.
Reports have even indicated that Facebook scraped call and text message data for Android users, and has done so for years — though the social media giant has disputed this claim.
Of course, while Cook has long been an outspoken consumer privacy advocate, doubts have been raised about Apple’s recent move to transfer Chinese iCloud operations to a local firm that is supervised by a board run by government-owned businesses and with close ties to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
