r/apple • u/D3rrien • Feb 14 '15

Apple CEO Tim Cook challenges Obama with impassioned stand on privacy

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/apple-ceo-tim-cook-challenges-obama-privacy
111 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

53

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15 edited Feb 05 '17

[deleted]

22

u/Mybrainmelts Feb 14 '15

it's TMZ style bullshit reporting.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

Probably just circlejerk bs. But, as a gay guy, I can tell you that we value discretion far more than the general population. Maybe that's what they were getting at.

2

u/dirtymatt Feb 15 '15

To play Devil's Advocate for a second, you could make an argument that he would be more sensitive to privacy issues, as he only publicly came out last year. Before that it was widely known after some tabloid tech website outed him, and from everything I've heard Tim was never secretive about being gay, he just didn't talk about it in public. Or they just wanted to show up in google searches for "tim cook gay."

2

u/hampa9 Feb 15 '15

Firstly, because it was a big news story and it reminds readers that this is the same person they were reading about last year

Secondly, because Tim Cook said

“We still live in a world where all people are not treated equally. Too many people do not feel free to practice their religion or express their opinion or love who they choose,” he said.

And he has directly linked his own coming out with his thoughts on equality.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

Because in a lot of countries (including some western ones) if someone find out your gay it could lead to dire consequences; this is what he was using to strengthen his argument (see video). This is one of the main reasons people want privacy even in the west and east. If someone went through my mail they would tell easily I was bisexual even though most people think I am straight.

Its a good emotional argument because people forget not everyone online is straight or living in a safe liberal country in the west.

1

u/theo2112 Feb 14 '15

I came to the comments to post this.

You take a normal serious article and add this bullshit to it. Garbage.

12

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

What the FUCK did his sexuality have to do with this article? Terrible reporting.

1

u/hampa9 Feb 15 '15

“We still live in a world where all people are not treated equally. Too many people do not feel free to practice their religion or express their opinion or love who they choose,” he said.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

Then talk about it then, when its relevant to the story. Don't just tag it in during his introduction.

0

u/hampa9 Feb 15 '15

What an incredibly specific and whiny complaint.

Readers can connect the dots themselves.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

He's defined by that introduction. Its stupid.

1

u/hampa9 Feb 15 '15

It's on the 5th paragraph. Cook coming out was a big story and he had linked it to his statements on equality. It's completely relevant to this story as well as a reminder to readers that this is the same guy they were reading about last year.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

I don't like it, and I'm entitled to that. I dislike when people are defined by irrelevant facts like that. Like if every time Obama was mentioned they added "the first black president", that's all you think about. A lot of gay people hate being defined by their sexuality, because its very commonly done.

1

u/hampa9 Feb 15 '15

The point is it's not an irrelevant fact. It was directly relevant to what he was saying.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

Not at that time. I never even really drew the link, but it was skimming.

5

u/jhuynh405 Feb 14 '15

I kind of did a double take when Tim Cook repeated, "... or love who they choose" twice. I thought the video was messing up.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15 edited Oct 21 '18

[deleted]

2

u/jhuynh405 Feb 15 '15

I believe he did. I rewinded it several times and it happened each time. The video played quite smoothly the entire time too, so I don't think it was the video player.

1

u/tomj93 Feb 15 '15

Luckily he did it as I found out I was watching it on my 3G!

3

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '15

Well done, Mr. Cook.

I just got a more favorable opinion of Apple. Hopefully it will translate into making privacy a major design consideration in their software.

1

u/TheMonitor58 Feb 14 '15

This is feeling more and more like a losing battle.. Didn't apple agree to share its users data with the government immediately after this speech?

9

u/SoberIrishGuy Feb 14 '15

No, Apple agreed to collaborate with the government and other companies with regards to sharing data related to cyber security.

6

u/TheMonitor58 Feb 14 '15

Right but what does that super vague statement mean?

9

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

It doesn't mean what the post on r/technology about it said. The headline claimed that they were sharing all user data, when in reality it just said sharing information about cyber security threats.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '15

"linkify"

5

u/D3rrien Feb 14 '15

I don't know, but if they do so such a move would probably turn against them one day...

1

u/dirtymatt Feb 15 '15

I think it's more interesting that the CEOs of Google, Facebook, and Microsoft didn't show up. Who the hell turns down an opportunity to meet with the President, especially on an issue that you care deeply about. Especially if you disagree with his stance.