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Tim Cook talks about consumer privacy and why Apple takes Google's money for search on iOS

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By Alan Friedman

Published: Nov 18, 2018, 9:31 PM

Apple

During an interview that aired on "Axiios on HBO" tonight, Apple CEO Tim Cook told reporters Ina Fried and Mike Allen that he expects legislation will eventually be passed to regulate the privacy of consumers. "I'm a big believer in the free market," the executive said, "but we have to admit when the free market's not working, and it hasn't worked here. I think it's inevitable that there will be some level of regulation."

An interesting point was made when Fried asked Cook why Apple takes Google's money to be the default search engine on iOS when the search giant makes money off of user data. Cook responded that he believes Google has the best search engine, and listed some of the things that Apple adds in iOS to protect user's privacy such as private web browsing, and intelligent tracker protection. The executive noted that "...it is not a perfect thing, I'd be the very first person to say that. But it goes a long way to helping."

"It's not that it fits in with what we do, it's that this is a core value of ours. If you look back over time, we were talking about privacy well before iPhone, so we've always believed that privacy was at the core of our civil liberties. This is not a matter of privacy versus profits or privacy versus technical innovation, that's a false choice. What we've done is, your device has incredible intelligence about you, but I don't have to have all of that as a company."-Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

The Apple CEO still appears to be excited about Augmented Reality (AR). Apple is rumored to be working on an AR based headset expected to arrive in the next one to three years. "I think in a few years, we're not going to be able to imagine our lives without [augmented reality]. It's that profound a platform," said Cook.

You can check out clips from the interview at the top of this article, and in the video directly below.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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