Facebook vs Apple: Zuckerberg lashes out at Apple boss Tim Cook
FACEBOOK boss Mark Zuckerberg has lashed out at Apple CEO Tim Cook as the battle of the digital tech giants hots up.
Apple CEO declares he would never be in Zuckerberg's situation
Mr Zuckerberg hit back after Mr Cook accused Facebook of an “invasion of privacy” following the revelation that Cambridge Analytica had illegally obtained data from 50 million users, and of “monetising customers”.
Assessing the Cambridge Analytica situation, Mr Cook last month said that companies which “[traffic] in your personal lives” are invading peoples' privacy.
He added: "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.
“I think the best regulation is no regulation, is self-regulation. However, I think we’re beyond that here.”
I find that argument to be extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth.
In a separate interview on MSBN, he added: "We could make a tonne of money if we monetised our customer, if our customer was our product.
“We've elected not to do that... Privacy to us is a human right."
Mr Cook also replied, when asked what he would do if he were Mr Zuckerberg: "I wouldn't be in that situation."
In response, the 33-year-old Facebook boss told news website Vox: "I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib and not at all aligned with the truth.
"The reality here is that if you want to build a service that helps connect everyone in the world, then there are a lot of people who can't afford to pay.
"I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you, because that sounds ridiculous to me."
Facebook was launched in 2004, since when it has grown to the point where it now has an estimated two billion users.
Its meteoric rise was chronicled in The Social Network, an Oscar-winning film starring Jesse Eisenberg.
In 2017 it earned almost £5billion in revenue – but the news that it had shared data with Cambridge Analytica, which allegedly used this information to influence voters prior to the 2016 US Presidential election and the Brexit referendum, has seen the value of shares take a tumble.
In a statement issued on his social media platform, Mr Zuckerberg admitted Facebook had made “many mistakes”.
He added: "We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you.