TECH DRAMA

Apple CEO Tim Cook Bashes Facebook: ‘I Wouldn’t Be in This Situation’

“The truth is we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer if our customer was our product. We’ve elected not to do that.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday slammed Facebook over its handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Cook lamented Facebook’s failure to protect its user data, declaring, “I wouldn’t be in this situation.” He further stabbed at the Facebook model: “The truth is we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer if our customer was our product. We’ve elected not to do that.” Cook’s comments come after reports that Cambridge Analytica, the data firm part-owned by Republican mega-donor Robert Mercer secretively misused the Facebook data of 50 million people to help win elections.