Although Apple does not usually intervene in meetings such as CES or Mobile World Congress, in fact it has been since 1992, this year 2020 is special. The American company has been officially represented by Jane Horvath. It has not been to present any technological novelty, since Apple already makes its own presentations, but to be part of a round table to exchange opinions.
The round table entitled "The person responsible for privacy", it was moderated by Rajeev Chand (Head of Research and Wing Partner); Rebecca Kelly Slaughter (From the Federal Trade Commission); Erin Eagan (Director of Privacy Policies at Facebook) and Jane Horvath (Director of Privacy at Apple).
Apple wasn't at a similar event since 1992
You already know that on these dates the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which takes place in Las Vegas from January 7 to January 10. In these days, companies strive to present the latest technological innovations that will prevail this year in the American and world markets.
Although Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), does not participate in these conferences directly, yes we know you want to position yourself through HomeKit. Many companies They are launching products compatible with this technology. But this year is also special because the company has real representation at this year's CES by the hand of its Privacy Director.
At CES not everything is gadgets to show. There are lectures that should be taken into account that should not be missed. One of them talks about the privacy of all these gadgets that are being presented these days. How technology can be a great ally but also a great hole through which thousands of users' private data can escape.
Privacy matters to Apple as much as to return to CES
In the round table that Rajeev Chand has moderated, all this has been discussed and Apple has been present at it. Something that had not happened since 1992. Privacy is something that matters to the American company to have returned to this type of event.
Apple's point of view, brought to the table by its director, has been to promote strict privacy standards and the steps taken to protect the user within the company. Apple's goal, he said, is 'Put consumers in the driver's seat' to ensure they have full control over their data.
Another of the phrases that have been engraved has been when I stated that: for Apple, the privacy approach starts from the beginning, “For every new product, even in the imminent initial phases of design, we have a privacy engineer and a privacy attorney assigned to work with the team ». Something that shows that Apple doesn't mess around with games when it comes to protecting the end user.
One of the people who is putting the most effort in this task of safeguarding data is the CEO of the company himself. Tim Cook, has stated this on several occasions and the announcements that the company launches are also very enlightening. Horvath said in this regard that "Tim Cook is incredibly committed to privacy and it flows through the company."
Time also for controversy in the talk
There was also time at the table for controversy that came from the hand of Commissioner Slaughter, stating that was "concerned about a universe where the entire burden to protect data falls on consumers". However, to this statement he obtained a quick and forceful response from Apple, who explained the measures that were adopted to avoid such an assertion:
- Differential privacy
- Processing on device
- Random identifiers for Siri and Maps. He gave an example with which he understands very well how Apple worksWhen you ask Siri for the weather, Apple only uses your data at the city level to avoid collecting more specific location information. But if you ask Siri to find grocery stores near you, Siri takes advantage of latitude and longitude to make sure it gives you nearby recommendations.
Apple has made it very clear its position on privacy and the methods it follows to achieve it, something that many other competitors cannot say the same.
