Tim Cook mounted his most stinging attack yet on tech firms that hoard 'industrial' quantities of data

Yves Herman/Reuters

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the European Union's privacy conference in Brussels.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook launched a scathing attack on tech companies that hoard "industrial" amounts of personal data.
• Speaking at a privacy conference in Brussels, he said that the stockpiling of personal data amounts to surveillance, and should make us "very uncomfortable."
• Cook did not mention Facebook and Google by name, but has made thinly veiled remarks about their approach to privacy in the past.
• He said that Apple would support the introduction of US federal privacy laws.

Apple's CEO has launched his most stinging attack yet on tech firms that hoard data.

In a speech at a privacy conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, Tim Cook decried the "data industrial complex" that has been created to maximise profits.

"Our own information, from the every day to the deeply personal is being weaponized against us with military efficiency," Cook said at the 40th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners on Wednesday.

The Apple CEO continued: "Every day billions of dollars change hands and countless decisions are made on the basis of our likes and dislikes, our friends and families, our relationships and conversations, our wishes and fears, our hopes and dreams.

"These threads of data, each one harmless enough on its own, are carefully assembled, synthesised, traded, and sold. Taken to its extreme this process creates an enduring digital profile, and lets companies know you better than you may know yourself.

"We shouldn't sugarcoat the consequences. This is surveillance. And these stockpiles of personal data serve only to enrich the companies that collect them. This should make us very uncomfortable. It should unsettle us."

Cook did not mention Facebook or Google by name, but they are an obvious target given they have access to giant pools of personal information that allow them to personalise advertising.

And Cook has criticised Facebook in the past over its approach to privacy, saying that Mark Zuckerberg's company is "beyond" self-regulation. Soon after, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said the firm strongly disagrees with Cook's characterization of its product.

Cook calls for US federal privacy laws

Cook went on to laud Europe's recently implemented GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) privacy laws - adding that it's time for the US to introduce similar regulations.

"It is time for the rest of the world, including my home country, to follow suit," he said. "We at Apple are in full support of a comprehensive federal privacy law in the United States," he added to a round of applause.

Cook admitted that his view isn't necessarily popular in Silicon Valley.

"There are many people who would prefer I hadn't said all that. Some oppose any formal privacy legislation, others will endorse reform in public and then resist and undermine it behind closed doors," he explained.

"They may say to you, 'our companies can never achieve technology's true potential if they're constrained with privacy regulation.' But this notion isn't just wrong, it is destructive."

You can watch an excerpt from Cook's speech here: