Apple Inc. said that its privacy policy is against the Cybsersecurity Information Sharing Act. The tech titan expressed its views with regard to the prior to the Senate voting for the bill.
Speaking to The Washington Post, the iPhone maker said it is against CISA and reiterated user privacy commitment, saying: "We don't support the current CISA proposal. The trust of our customers means everything to us and we don't believe security should come at the expense of their privacy."
CISA has become controversial as it will allow companies to share information on cybersecurity threats with the government and with one another, something that will put personal information of the users at risk.
It fails to include user privacy protection by giving the government rights to gather private information from Americans and its intention to protect them from hackers is regarded as a guise, said Macrumors.
Other tech companies like Wikipedia, Rededit, Yelp and Twitter have expressed their opposition to the bill, as well as the Computer and Communications Industry Association which members are Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook. The association urged the Senate to make amendments to CISA as it would not support its current content.
When it comes to Apple Inc.'s privacy privacy, the tech firm takes a strong stance. The colossus from Cupertino said many times that the government has no access to its servers.
CEO Tim Cook has been speaking passionately on the company's unwavering commitment to user privacy. When iOS 8 launched last year, having encryption keys to its storage, making it even impossible for the company itself to unlock iPads and iPhones under police request.
During the WSJ.D Live Conference in California, Cook reiterated Apple Inc.'s privacy policy, saying, "Do we want our nation to be secure? Of course. No one should have to decide between privacy or security. We should be smart enough to do both. Both of these things are essentially part of the Constitution."
Tech website Computerworld has some of the quotes from prominent entities opposing CISA. Amber Cottle, who heads Dropbox global public policy and government affairs said, "While it's important for the public and private sector to share relevant data...[it] should not come at the expense of users' privacy."
Senator Ron Wyden, a major critic of CISA also expressed his views: "If you share more information without strong privacy protections, millions of Americans will say, 'That is not a cybersecurity bill. It is a surveillance bill.'"
