The "Data Industrial Complex"

In his farewell address in 1961, President Eisenhower famously warned against "the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."  Not as famously, in that same speech he warned against "the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite."  Now we have one of the scions of the "scientific-technological elite" warning against the "data industrial complex":

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaking to an international privacy conference Wednesday said he supported the European Union's data privacy law, enacted in May, and called for the U.S. to pass similar protections.

The need for consumer protections is important because technological advances have led to the development of "a data industrial complex," Cook said. "Our own information, from the everyday to the deeply personal, is being weaponized against us with military efficiency"...

The U.S. should have a "comprehensive federal privacy law" with four essential rights, Cook said. "First, the right to have personal data minimized. Companies should challenge themselves to de-identify customer data – or not to collect it in the first place. Second, the right to knowledge. Users should always know what data is being collected and what it is being collected for," he said. "Third, the right to access. Companies should recognize that data belongs to users, and we should all make it easy for users to get a copy of…correct…and delete their personal data. And fourth, the right to security. Security is foundational to trust and all other privacy rights."

You don't have to believe me, but you probably shouldn't ignore Tim Cook on this particular topic.