Tim Cook just told the world that personal data should be regulated. You heard that right. The chief executive of the world’s most valuable technology company (by market value) just invited the US government to come regulate his industry.
Who does that? No one does that. US companies certainly don’t do that. Usually companies are demanding to be deregulated. The US aviation sector demanded to be deregulated in the 1970s. You only need to watch the video of David Dao getting dragged off a United Airplane to know how well deregulation has been for that sector. Wall Street just got deregulated again last month with the roll-back of Dodd-Frank. And US auto makers are demanding that US President Donald Trump deregulate the auto industry by rolling back energy regulations. There is a pattern here.
But on Saturday, Cook said, “I think that this certain situation is so dire and has become so large that probably some well-crafted regulation is necessary.” He was of course referring to the Facebook Data Scandal, but why would he do this?
Well, for starters, the writing is on the wall for everyone to see. Regulation is coming to social media, but in what way is still very much to be discussed. Maybe Cook hopes to insert himself into the process of determining just what regulations get passed. I’m sure we’ll see the phrase “well-crafted” again.
Cook is the first CEO to publically address the scandal, which will certainly spread to the industry at large. Jeff Bezos, who probably knows everything from my shoe size (US13 extra-wide) to my favorite flavor of toothpaste (mint, but what other flavor is there?) has yet to step forward. Schmidt, Page and Brin have also yet to speak on the issue, and if there is anyone who knows all of our dirty little secrets, it’s the Google’s Three Amigos.
Mark Zuckerberg’s comments on Friday don’t count, because (and I’m paraphrasing here) “We made mistakes. Please don’t sue me,” isn’t a proper regulatory position.
Still, there will be people who question whether Cook forgot the basic rule of “be careful of what you ask for because you just might get it.” Maybe. When the world’s governments begin to implement law, there is no guarantee that industry might get more oversight that it wants. But Cook has been down this road before. Just a few years back, Apple took on the US government over the data on the iPhone of the San Bernadino shooter. It’s very clear they are taking a stance.
Please don’t think I’m trying to champion Cook here. Judging from the language of his statement, his primary concern is minimizing his company’s legal entanglements with the government, not to mention its legal liability. But the conversation needs to start somewhere and the input of the tech industry will be needed.
