Big quote: "I think their search engine is the best. Look at what we've done with the controls we've built in. We have private web browsing. We have an intelligent tracker prevention. What we've tried to do is come up with ways to help our users through their course of the day. It's not a perfect thing. I'd be the very first person to say that. But it goes a long way to helping." – Tim Cook
Setting an application as the default for a given file type ensures that the program is used more frequently. The same goes for choosing a default search engine. As more people are encouraged to use Google by default, there will be more searches made. Google is currently paying Apple quite a lot of money for the privilege of being the default search provider.
Apple has been painted by some as one of the best privacy advocates left in the Silicon Valley area. So why does a company embracing encryption and user privacy partner with a company such as Google that collects astounding amounts of user data? According to Tim Cook, there is a quick and easy answer. "I think their search engine is the best," said Cook in an interview with Axios.
Cook goes on to say that controls and safe guards have been implemented into iOS and macOS. Features such as private web browsing and tracking prevention help keep users' data from being scraped and sold to the highest bidder or used for highly targeted ads.
Whether iOS and macOS users are actually taking advantage of such privacy features is another question. Cook admits that the ways in which users are given options to protect their personal data are far from perfect, but believes that Apple has gone "a long way" in protecting its users.
The timely interview arrives just days after Mark Zuckerberg reportedly ordered executives to stop using iPhones at Facebook due to differences of opinion with Tim Cook. Unquestionably, Apple is far more committed to user privacy than Facebook even if using Google for search goes slightly against the privacy-focused philosophy.
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https://www.techspot.com/news/77491-tim-cook-take-google-think-their-search-engine.html
