Apple CEO Tim Cook talks education, privacy at Silicon Slopes Summit

Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke with Sen. Mike Lee at the Silicon Slopes Summit in downtown Salt Lake City on Wednesday. Photo: Silicon Slopes

SALT LAKE CITY — Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at the Silicon Slopes Summit on Wednesday alongside Senator Mike Lee at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

“I think it deserves the name Silicon Slopes,” Cook said about Utah’s technology scene.

He said he met with several different companies on Wednesday, including Ancestry.

I’ve always thought tech should serve humanity, not the other way around. That is what I see here.

“You have great universities, you have venture capital, you have unbelievable developers and entrepreneurs here… all of the ingredients to be successful is here.”

He said continued investment is always important, particularly in education.

Sen. Lee asked Cook about the future of higher education, specifically if the traditional four-year degree track will continue to be the norm.

“I think the four-year is one path, but only one,” Cook said. He said Apple believes that community college and certain certificates can set people on the right course. In general, he said there are many jobs that don’t require four-year degrees.

Turning the conversation to K-12 education, Cook said he wants to see every kid learn to code before they graduate high school.

“Teaching someone to code teaches them critical thinking skills… coding teaches you the art of the possible… you need to learn how to code even if you’re not going to be a coder.”

When Sen. Lee asked Tim Cook about antitrust policy, Cook said “robust competition is very important.”

He said Apple faces tough global competition in all markets, from phones to PCs and wearables. “I think that makes us a better company, because of it [competition].”

“Today, technology and in particular big tech, tends to be lumped together… not in a good way.”

Cook said antitrust rules should be handmade for each sector and look to address certain issues specific to that market — rather than having sweeping, blanket regulation.

In September, a federal judge ruled that Apple must change its rules, in order to inform customers of ways to make purchases outside the App Store. The verdict was part of a long legal battle between the company and Epic Games, the maker of the popular video game Fortnite. Apple is looking to appeal the verdict.

The conversation ended with a focus on privacy, and Apple’s choice to make that a hallmark of their brand.

Sen. Lee said while data can be used for good, it certainly can be used for evil — he referred to children that have online data trails already.

Cook said unchecked data collection is close to his heart, and that Apple believes in encryption.

“We view privacy as a fundamental human right,” Cook said. “Your phone has more information on you generally, than if somebody went through your house and opened every drawer and every closet and everything in your home.”

“Your phone has your histories in it. It may have your financial information, it may have your health information, it has your close contacts in it, it knows who you’ve called.”

Cook said the only way to be safe with data today is encryption.

“We cannot unlock your phone,” he said. “We don’t pass your face to Apple, we don’t pass your passcode to Apple… We think that’s the way it should be.”

Following a shooting in San Bernardino, California in 2015, the FBI wanted access to the perpetrator’s iPhone. The FBI wasn’t able to unlock the phone and requested that a court order Apple to create a custom operating system that would allow them to disable security on the iPhone.

Apple opposed the order on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.

“[T]he U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create,” Cook said in a statement at the time.

The court fight ended up being called off, as the FBI found a way to access the phone without the company’s help.