Apple CEO Tim Cook Discusses Privacy, China, Alex Jones and More in VICE Interview | Mac

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sat down for an interview with VICE News Tonight on HBO’s Elle Reeve, and the footage from the interview aired tonight on HBO.

Cook covered topics that include the importance of privacy, Apple’s relationship with China, and why Apple blocked conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars app and podcast. The full VICE News Tonight on HBO interview can be watched below.

On privacy and its impact on Siri, Cook said that Apple doesn’t believe that personal data is needed to make services better. “Whoever’s telling you that — it’s a bunch of bonk,” he said.

Cook also said Apple has not made it easier for the Chinese government to get data from Chinese customers because the company uses the same encryption everywhere.

It’s not easy for anybody to get it. I mean it’s it’s encrypted like it is everywhere. And so no, I wouldn’t I wouldn’t get caught up in the, ‘Where’s the location of it?’ I mean, we have servers located in many different countries in the world. They are not easier to get data from being in one country versus the next.

On the topic of Alex Jones, Cook said that the removal of the Infowars show from Apple podcasts is an example of the importance of human curation. Cook also said that Apple does not lean one way or the other politically, and it wasn’t taking a political stance removing Jones’ offensive content.

What users want from us and what we’ve always provided them is a curated platform. We think the what the user wants is someone that does review these apps, someone that does review the podcasts, someone that on like Apple news, where a human is selecting the top stories. And that’s what we do. We don’t take a political stand. We’re not leaning one way or the other. You can tell that from the stuff on the App Store and in podcasts etc. You’ll see everything from very conservative to very liberal. And that’s the way I think it should be.

Cook went on to explain that there was no coordination between tech companies after Facebook and Twitter both removed Infowars content after Apple did. “I’ve never even had a conversation about [Alex Jones] with other tech companies,” he said. “We make our decisions independently and I think that’s important.”

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