During a trip this week to Apple's European operations, CEO Tim Cook revealed a bit more about the company's position on customer privacy as well as the upcoming Apple Watch retail experience in a new interview.
"None of us should accept that the government or a company or anybody should have access to all of our private information," said Cook, sounding a familiar note regarding government surveillance, just days after Citizenfour, the documentary detailing Edward Snowden's revelations about the NSA, won an Oscar for best documentary.
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"This is a basic human right. We all have a right to privacy," Cook told the UK Telegraph. "We shouldn't give it up. We shouldn't give in to scare-mongering or to people who fundamentally don’t understand the details."
Cook's thoughts privacy are well known, but this latest series of comments reveals that topic continues to be a serious issue for the company, even as the U.S. government surveillance revelations have mostly faded from the headlines.
"The issue becomes when you begin to observe everything people are doing: read their emails, read their messages, monitor their browsing habits, really study everything about them and then connect the dots about these things,” said Cook.
In the coming months, as Apple Pay continues to gain traction and the Apple Watch begins collecting health data, the issue of privacy is likely to become an even more sensitive issue for Apple. Nevertheless, Cook appears confident that the company's policies will put anyone worries about their privacy at ease.
“If you use your phone to buy something on Apple Pay, we don’t want to know what you bought, how much you paid for it and where you bought it," said Cook. "That is between you, your bank and the merchant … It is a cop-out to say: choose between privacy or security. There is no reason why customers should have to select one. There is no reason not to have both."
Aside from privacy, during a visit to Apple's London store in Convent Garden, Cook briefly touched upon the impending release of the Apple Watch. "We've never sold anything as a company that people could try on before," Cook told his assembled staff, adding that it may mean "tweaking the experience in the store."
Although Apple has yet to announce an official on sale date for the much-heralded smartwatch, many expect to learn more during the company's special event on March 9.