“Technology is only useful if people trust it” – Just one sentence, Tim Cook pointed out the biggest problem Mark Zuckerberg has

It’s no secret that Apple and Facebook are at odds. Although there are still social statements, the hostility of the two is quite obvious.

This is a strange animosity with 2 companies that are said to be very dependent on each other. For example, the iPhone accounts for about 50% of the mobile market share in the US, and is also the most important channel for social media users in the country.

Of course, Facebook is also important to the iPhone. If all of a sudden you can’t use Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, Apple certainly has a ton of problems with iPhone users. Many people will choose to switch to another platform if they cannot use the aforementioned apps.

However, these two companies seem to be unable to resist the urge to “spin” each other whenever given the opportunity. For example, Facebook placed a full-page ad decrying Apple’s decisions to require developers to get users’ permission before tracking them on an app or website. This greatly affects Facebook as its business is mainly based on advertising.

Tim Cook responded that he was “not targeting Facebook at all”.

Recently, Facebook also criticized Apple when Apple announced that it would scan images on iPhone and iCloud to prevent child sexual abuse. Will Cathcart, CEO of WhatsApp (owned by Facebook) says that Apple’s decision is to monitor users and is the wrong approach.

So far, Facebook is considered the company that violates the user’s privacy the most. They monetize user data anytime, anywhere, and when there was an opportunity to “attack” Apple, they didn’t pass up.

Now, Tim Cook continues to give feedback, this time in an interview with the Financial Review, “Technology isn’t good. It’s not bad. It’s balanced. So it’s up to me in the hands of inventors and users. will decide it is used for good. If not, the technology will lose its use to users.In that case, users’ privacy will become collateral. Conspiracy or hate speech will drown everything. Technology will only be useful if it has people’s trust.”

The last part is very important. The sentence “technology will only work if it has people’s trust” clearly explains what happened to Facebook, though Tim Cook didn’t specifically mention it. Facebook, but words like “conspiracy theory” or “hate speech” make it pretty clear who he’s referring to.

It seems the problem of tech companies, specifically Facebook, is focusing too much on building features and products without caring about their impact on users.

They justify tracking user data as the key to a free and open Internet, and it’s so important to small businesses. Even if those things are true, it only shows that Tim Cook’s point is more right when user privacy becomes collateral for the “free and open” of the Internet. If your business model relies on collecting and monetizing as much user data, protecting their privacy can also be quite challenging.

It’s also worth repeating that Apple is also facing criticism for the way it handles user privacy. However, that criticism has to do with the fact that Apple has long been a “champion” in protecting users’ personal data.

There’s an issue that Tim Cook talks about: trust. Facebook is not getting the trust of users. Therefore, no matter what they do, it’s hard for them to make the world believe that it’s for the benefit of the users, rather than for data mining and monetization of them.