The Apple CEO has largely kept quiet on privacy issues since Facebook’s troubles sprung up last week. That’s when we learned that the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica quietly, deceptively gathered data belonging to more than 50 million Facebook users in 2014.

“I think that this certain situation is so dire and has become so large that probably some well-crafted regulation is necessary,” Cook said. “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.”

He went on describe a long-held worry that people aren’t necessarily aware of what they’re giving away in terms of their personal data when they sign up for one online service or another.

“We’ve worried for a number of years that people in many countries were giving up data probably without knowing fully what they were doing and that these detailed profiles that were being built of them, that one day something would occur and people would be incredibly offended by what had been done without them being aware of it,” he said.

“Unfortunately that prediction has come true more than once.”

Cook didn’t specifically name the United States as one of those “many countries,” but he later pointed out “the countries that embrace openness do exceptional.”

Weak data privacy laws aren’t a uniquely American problem, but — as the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica situation illustrates — they are an American problem too. Especially when you look at something like the General Data Protection Regulation, an EU-wide initiative that puts more of the onus on business interests to protect their users in fair and common sense ways.

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Source: Mashable.com

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 The drama surrounding Apple’s old iPhone batteries isn’t over yet.Four U.S. House Republicans sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook on Friday asking for answers on batterygate.

In December, Apple admitted to throttling the speed of older iPhones to increase batteryperformance, a long-time conspiracy theory among iPhone users that turned out to be true. As a result, Apple issued an apology to its customers, and announced reduced pricing for out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement, from $79 to $29.

But the apology and explanation from the billion dollar company wasn’t enough for House Republicans, who want more answers on the subject, according to Reuters.

The report also notes that U.S. Senator John Thune sent a similar letter to Apple on Tuesday. Thune is the chair on the the Senate Commerce Committee.

Cook reportedly made $12.8 million in 2017, according to a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Virtual Private Networks are often used to skirt censorship and surveillance in countries with tight restrictions on internet use.

The company has been heavily criticised for removing several VPN apps, and was accused of “aiding Chinese censorship efforts”.

Apple said it disagreed with China’s position but had to comply with the country’s laws.

“We would obviously rather not remove the apps,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said on Tuesday.

“But like we do in other countries we follow the law wherever we do business.

Mr Cook said comparisons to a legal battle in the US last year – in which the firm refused to help the FBI unlock a dead terrorist’s iPhone – were unfair.

“They’re very different,” he said.

“In the case of the US, the law in the US supported us. I was very clear. In the case of China, the law is also very clear there. Like we would if the US changed the law here, we’d have to abide by them in both cases.”

‘Most drastic measure’

Activists and indeed regular citizens in China have been finding ways to poke holes in the country’s infamous Great Firewall of China which blocks “questionable” content and is heavily monitored.

To operate a VPN service in the country, companies must be authorised by the Chinese authorities.

Apple sales boosted by services growth

Those without permission, such as ExpressVPN, have been singled out for removal from Apple’s App Store.

“We’re disappointed in this development, as it represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date,” said ExpressVPN in a blog post.

“We are troubled to see Apple aiding China’s censorship efforts. ExpressVPN strongly condemns these measures, which threaten free speech and civil liberties.”

Mr Cook said Apple stated its opposition to the removal through the “appropriate” channels.

“We believe in engaging with governments even when we disagree,” he said.

“In this particular case, we are hopeful that over time the resections we’re seeing are loosened, because innovation requires freedom to collaborate and communicate.”

Mr Cook’s remarks were made during the firm’s quarterly earnings call. While the firm performed strongly in most of the world, it continues to struggle in China where revenues dropped 10% compared to this time last year.

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Source: BBC

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“It’s hard to say,” Cook said in response to an investor question about whether the iPhone would hit supply/demand equilibrium by the end of the next quarter. “I believe that on iPhone 7 we will, on iPhone 7 Plus I’m not sure. I wouldn’t say yes at this point because the underlying demand looks extremely strong on both products but particularly on the iPhone 7 Plus vs our forecast going into the product launch.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”UOKn2tEGRXvOPPwKLAfP8xf65g5z3dDX”]This is going to be a very big deal for Apple, which is looking for its first return to sales growth in the first quarter this year. The holiday quarter is critical for Apple, and in addition to that it has a huge window of opportunity given that the Galaxy Note 7 is basically dead in the water.

“It’s very hard to gauge demand when you’re selling everything you’re making, so we’ll find out more through the quarter but we’re confident enough to give you guys guidance that we’re returning to growth this quarter, which obviously feels very good for us,” Cook said.

Apple’s iPhone sales have not only been slowing, but declining, year-over-year in several quarters this year. That’s largely been attributed to an overall saturation of the smartphone ecosystem, especially since Apple largely targets a higher-end part of the market. Apple is also seeing a lot of competition from other manufacturers trying to beat it at a lower price point.

Already, the iPhone 7 Plus is seeing massive shipping delays because its demand has drastically outstripped its supply. If you try to go purchase an iPhone 7 Plus, the shipping delay may be as high as several weeks. Apple is frantically trying to make as many iPhone 7 Plus phones as it can, and it’s going to be critical that it finds a way to meet that demand.

The exact question from the analyst was, “in terms of supply, do you think we’ll be at equilibrium by the end of the quarter?”

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Source: TechCrunch

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