Apple — Thank You for Protecting Our Privacy
Caring is Not Sharing Our Data
Hands down, Apple is the most incredible company I have ever seen. It’s not even close. From their technological innovations, focus on style, ease of use, and really cool stores, I have been in awe with just about everything Apple has ever done.
Amazingly, in these astonishing and scary times, where Moore’s Law states that technological advancements are growing exponentially, the constant changes can be overwhelming. Of course, this is all very exciting as we can only imagine how much technology will improve our lives in the future. However, lost in this technology shuffle is a human right we hold dear to our hearts and is a foundation of our American democracy — our privacy.
Lately, it has come to light how our privacy rights are being trampled. Big technology companies are collecting, using, and selling our data with limited controls or regulations. 1984, the prophetic novel by George Orwell that we all read in high school, is coming true. Big brother in the form of technology companies, cellular providers, app designers, and the like, are truly watching. Who is going to protect us, David from the big bad Goliath? I would like to say it is the government, but it is not (though a bi-partisan privacy bill has finally been introduced into Congress — fingers crossed).
So, who is our privacy protector and data savior looking out for me and my fellow citizens. It is Apple of course. Apple has remained true to its otherworldly brilliant founder Steve Jobs who incredibly stated, “I believe people are smart and some people want to share more data than other people do. Ask them. Ask them every time … Let them know precisely what you’re going to do with their data.”
What have they done recently to garner such admiration? Apple’s recently released privacy focused IOS 14 update limits ad tracking and keeps our data private and local. Apple enables us to prevent our data from being disseminated worldwide to any advertiser willing to pay enough.
Incredibly, over 80% of the 1.4 billion iPhone users have already accepted the update. Apple has earned this trust. Other big tech companies such as Facebook are greatly concerned that this update will likely reduce the effectiveness and profitability of targeted advertisements. This development is a major victory for privacy rights advocates and a square punch in the nose to companies such as Facebook that want as much personal data as possible to increase the value of their advertising.
Over the last several months, I have become very fired up about this issue. The ambivalence with which many companies, particularly Big Tech companies, treat this issue is treacherous. Fortunately, Apple, the Big Tech firm that seems to take privacy issues most seriously, continues to be ahead of the curve and sincere about privacy protections. We would all be wise to encourage other companies to catch up to Apple.
As the great Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis stated, “sunlight is the best disinfectant.” Thanks to Apple, a bright ray of sunshine is being pointed at the abusers of our data. As one of the many admirers of Apple, I believe that Apple can help us regain our privacy and rights to control our data. Please take a look at the incredibly creative commercial Apple released this week about privacy rights
Kudos Apple. Kudos Steve Jobs. Thank you for caring.
