5月13日，蘋(píng)果公司首席執(zhí)行官蒂姆·庫(kù)克在獲得工商管理學(xué)碩士（MBA）學(xué)位的杜克大學(xué)發(fā)表了畢業(yè)典禮演講。他借機(jī)重申，雖然其他科技企業(yè)未能處理好隱私問(wèn)題，蘋(píng)果仍然努力保護(hù)用戶隱私，也為該校教育做了宣傳。

演講開(kāi)頭，庫(kù)克闡述了硅谷圈內(nèi)自我感覺(jué)良好的道德觀。他說(shuō)：“在科技的幫助下，人人都擁有工具、潛力和影響力創(chuàng)造一個(gè)更美好的世界。我們生活在一個(gè)最幸福的時(shí)代?！睅?kù)克還回顧了蘋(píng)果的歷史，鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生們緬懷蘋(píng)果創(chuàng)始人史蒂夫·喬布斯的同時(shí)也要“敢于追求新想法”。

庫(kù)克強(qiáng)調(diào)，蘋(píng)果沒(méi)有涉及近些年重創(chuàng)科技樂(lè)觀主義情緒的隱私問(wèn)題。他說(shuō)：“有一種觀點(diǎn)認(rèn)為，要充分利用科技就要犧牲隱私權(quán)，我們不同意，所以選擇了不同的道路，收集用戶數(shù)據(jù)越少越好，并且盡可能給予關(guān)懷和尊重。因?yàn)槲覀冎溃瑪?shù)據(jù)屬于用戶?！?

這席話很顯然暗指社交媒體巨頭Facebook。近來(lái)Facebook因?yàn)閿?shù)據(jù)分析公司Cambridge Analytica爆出的丑聞引發(fā)了公眾關(guān)注，人們意識(shí)到社交媒體的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)不僅影響個(gè)人隱私，還關(guān)乎公共整體利益。庫(kù)克最近一直抨擊Facebook，但多年來(lái)蘋(píng)果確實(shí)相當(dāng)重視隱私保護(hù)。早在2010年喬布斯就曾批評(píng)谷歌收集數(shù)據(jù)。硅谷知名風(fēng)投機(jī)構(gòu)Andreessen Horowitz的合伙人本尼迪克特·伊文斯預(yù)計(jì)，蘋(píng)果會(huì)繼續(xù)保持傳統(tǒng)。

預(yù)測(cè)：今年蘋(píng)果的全球開(kāi)發(fā)者大會(huì)（WWDC）主題演講中，如果提一次隱私你就喝一口飲料，演講沒(méi)結(jié)束飲料肯定沒(méi)了。

——本尼迪克特·伊文斯

但別以為庫(kù)克強(qiáng)調(diào)隱私是純粹利他。蘋(píng)果和Facebook的業(yè)務(wù)有著本質(zhì)區(qū)別。蘋(píng)果靠出售高端硬件獲利，而Facebook盈利則是靠在開(kāi)放網(wǎng)絡(luò)上打廣告。更適合與蘋(píng)果對(duì)比的可能是亞馬遜。亞馬遜的平板電腦Fire售價(jià)不到蘋(píng)果平板iPad的一半，部分原因在于多個(gè)版本的Fire都能通過(guò)向客戶有針對(duì)性地投放廣告獲得補(bǔ)貼。從這個(gè)角度看，蘋(píng)果強(qiáng)調(diào)保護(hù)隱私也預(yù)示著，以后有能力支付更高成本的人才能擺脫數(shù)據(jù)追蹤，如果不愿意花錢(qián)隱私就得不到保護(hù)。

庫(kù)克在講話中含蓄地承認(rèn)，將來(lái)確實(shí)可能出現(xiàn)更廣泛的社會(huì)不平等現(xiàn)象?！澳銈兘邮芰耸澜缫涣鞯慕逃該碛猩贁?shù)人才能享受的機(jī)遇。你們有獨(dú)特的素質(zhì)，也就要承擔(dān)獨(dú)特的責(zé)任，要開(kāi)創(chuàng)更好的未來(lái)。但并非易事，需要很大的勇氣。勇氣不僅可以幫你們實(shí)現(xiàn)人生的意義，也給你們力量改善他人的生活?！?

庫(kù)克說(shuō)這些顯然是為了鼓舞學(xué)生。但現(xiàn)在看來(lái)，所謂科技業(yè)領(lǐng)袖改善世人生活可能沒(méi)過(guò)去那么唬人了。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Pessy

審稿：夏林

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Apple CEO Tim Cook gave the commencement speech on May 13th?at Duke University, where he earned his MBA. He demonstrated the quality of that education by leveraging the opportunity to remind the world of Apple’s commitment to user privacy—and other tech companies’ privacy failings.

Cook’s speech,?opened with a version of Silicon Valley’s feel-good ethos. “Aided by technology,” Cook said, “Every individual has the tools, potential, and reach to build a better world. That makes this the best time to be alive.” Cook also gave nods to Apple’s history, urging students to “dare to think different” before offering a remembrance of Apple founder Steve Jobs.

Cook also tried to distance Apple from the dark clouds that have sullied that techno-optimism in recent years. “We reject the excuse that getting the most out of technology means trading away your right to privacy. So we choose a different path, collecting as little of your data as possible, [and] being thoughtful and respectful when it’s in our care. Because we know that it belongs to you.”

That seems most obviously a shot at Facebook. The social media giant’s recent Cambridge Analytica scandal seems to have finally woken the public up to the risks social media poses not just to individual privacy, but public discourse as a whole. Cook has been unrelenting in his criticism of Facebook recently, but Apple has placed a high priority on privacy for years. Steve Jobs even took shots at Google’s data collection back in 2010—and Andreessen Horowitz partner Benedict Evans predicts that the emphasis will continue.

Prediction: if you have a drink every time Apple mentions privacy at this year’s WWDC keynote, you won’t make it to the end.

— Benedict Evans

But don’t mistake Cook’s words for pure altruism. Apple is in a fundamentally different business than Facebook, making profits by selling high-end hardware, instead of advertising on an open-access network. A more direct contrast might be with Amazon, which sells Fire tablets that cost less than half as much as an Apple iPad—in part because many versions of the Fire are subsidized by delivering targeted advertising. From that perspective, Apple’s focus on privacy portends a future in which some people can afford to escape digital tracking, and others can’t.

Cook implicitly acknowledged the broader social context of rising inequality that could lead to that future. “The world-class education you’ve received . . . gives you opportunities that few people have. You are uniquely qualified, and therefore uniquely responsible, to build a better way forward. That won’t be easy. It will require great courage. But that courage will not only help you live your life to the fullest, it will empower you to transform the lives of others.”

That passage was clearly intended to be inspirational—but the idea of tech leaders trying to transform other people’s lives may now be less dazzling than it once was.