In an interview that just wrapped up at the second annual TIME100 Summit in New York City, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, was interviewed by TIME’s Executive Editor John Simmons where he discussed his worry for the loss of privacy to big tech, broke down his decision to come out as gay in 2014 and more.
Here are some highlights from the interview:
Tim Cook on his worry about the loss of privacy with Big Tech: “I fear deeply the loss of privacy… If we begin to feel that we’re being surveilled all the time, our behavior changes. We begin to do less. We begin to think about things less. We begin to modify how we think. In a world like that where we’re restraining ourselves, it changes society in a major way.”
On his decision to come out as gay in 2014: “The reason I did this is because I wanted to help young people. I saw what was going on was the LGBTQ community was being bullied terribly… And I thought if I can only help one person by telling the world that I’m gay and I’m proud of it.”
When asked what calculations went into his decision, Cook said he weighed a number of different things: “How people would hear it, how people would perceive it. I did worry about it pulling attention off of products and what we’re about. But at the end of the day I felt like I was in a position to do a lot of good…. The big downside was my own privacy. It was something I was giving up myself so you could sort of see that trade-off I was going to make.”
About the event:
The TIME100 Summit convenes leaders from past and present TIME100 lists of the world’s most influential people across a diverse range of sectors including government, business, entertainment, health and science. The event was held on Tuesday, June 7 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. For more information, visit: https://time100summit.com/
