Apple CEO Tim Cook calls for greater data privacy amid China expansion, Facebook security breach

Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Tuesday said the company is devoted to protecting people’s privacy, with data encrypted and locked away on servers even in China.

Cook called privacy as one of the most important issues of this century, and maintained that the US-based technology colossus even safeguards data Chinese law requires it to keep stored in that country.

“We worked with a Chinese company to provide iCloud,” Cook said, referring to Apple’s service for storing digital content online during an interview with Vice News.

“But, the keys to the data are ours.”

Cook said Apple hosts data on servers in an array of countries, but it is not easy for local authorities to get access. China is known for tight internet controls, prompting worries about the privacy of data stored there by Apple.

When asked about a recent security breach revealed by Facebook, Cook once again championed the importance of protecting people’s information in a time when smartphones can reveal so much about them.