Apple CEO Tim Cook says it’s a ‘challenge’ to communicate the need for new privacy laws to Congress (AAPL)

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• Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, is calling for new privacy regulations.

• But in a new interview, he acknowledged that briefing Congress on the issue is a “challenge.”

• Cook praised Apple’s restraint in collecting user information and said he “cannot imagine” one of his successors taking the company in a different direction when it comes to user privacy.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is renewing his call for new government regulations to protect consumer privacy from tech companies.

The amount of information stored about individual users online and on their phones is enormous, Cook said in a Tuesday interview with Vice News Tonight. He said the tech industry has not done a good job of respecting and protecting this data.

“I’m not a fan of regulation, I’m a big believer in the free market,” Cook said. But he added that “when the free market does not produce results that are good for society, we have to ask ourselves: what do we have to do? I think some level of government regulation is important to get out of this. “

Despite advocating for new regulations, Cook, who has repeatedly advocated for new privacy laws this year, expressed doubts whether Congress is staying as current with technology as it would be necessary to develop favorable legislation in this area. The “technology skills” of legislators and their staff pose a “challenge,” he said.

“It’s imperative that we work with Congress and staff to make sure we do our jobs, helping them catch up… on what’s possible,” he said.

Consumer advocates, policymakers and tech industry representatives are increasingly discussing the need for new privacy regulations, especially in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica Facebook scandal this spring. As a result of the incident, approximately 87 million customer records were leaked to a data analytics company linked to President Donald Trump. Facebook recently admitted that at least 50 million accounts were compromised due to a security flaw.

Cook doesn’t think Apple will change its stance on privacy

Apple and Cook have repeatedly tried to differentiate the company from its Big Tech competitors like Facebook and Google. Unlike these companies, Apple does not rely on advertising revenue or collecting aggregate user data to target ads. Cook said Apple actually tries to limit the amount of information it collects about users.

“When we approach product design, we challenge ourselves to collect as little as possible,” he said. He continued: “You are not our product.”

Some in the industry say Apple’s reticence in collecting data will ultimately hurt the company’s ability to compete with rivals, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. These technologies tend to improve as more data is accessed. For example, an intelligent assistant could potentially offer more useful suggestions about restaurants the user might like if they had more information about restaurants they have liked in the past.

Cook, however, disputed the notion that Apple itself needs to collect more user data to improve its services, suggesting instead that users’ devices could collect it instead – without sharing it with the company.

“The narrative that some companies will try to make you believe is: ‘I need to take all your data to improve my services.’ Well, don’t believe it,” he said. “Whoever tells you this is bullshit. We try to store as much of your information as possible on this device because we want it to know about it and we count on it to be intelligent for you.”

Some consumer advocates have expressed concern that while Apple may now respect user privacy, the situation could change under Cook’s successors. Users’ iPhones collect a lot of data, and at some point the company may decide to collect it itself.

However, Cook also questioned this concept, saying it would go against Apple’s culture.

“I think the next person (who runs Apple) I don’t want to involve them, but I can’t imagine it. I can’t imagine that someone would just say, ‘Oh, it’s time for a change,'” he said. I can not see it.”

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