By Matt Binder From Mashable

Apple CEO Tim Cook is on a crusade to make tech companies care more about their users’ privacy.

In an op-ed for Time Magazine, Cook once again called for a sweeping change within the tech industry and how companies handle online data. The Apple CEO is pushing Congress and the Federal Trade Commission to step up and make the moves necessary to protect people’s privacy.

“In 2019, it’s time to stand up for the right to privacy—yours, mine, all of ours,” writes Cook. “Consumers shouldn’t have to tolerate another year of companies irresponsibly amassing huge user profiles, data breaches that seem out of control and the vanishing ability to control our own digital lives.”

Cook urged that the data privacy issues plaguing Silicon Valley are not too difficult or far gone to fix. In his op-ed, Cook calls on Congress to pass “comprehensive federal privacy legislation.” The tenets of this legislation have been echoed by Cook before. Last year, while railing against the “data industrial complex,” the Apple CEO outlined “four essential rights” that he said should guide such legislation. He reiterates these rights in his Time piece.

“First, the right to have personal data minimized. Companies should challenge themselves to strip identifying information from customer data or avoid collecting it in the first place. Second, the right to knowledge—to know what data is being collected and why. Third, the right to access. Companies should make it easy for you to access, correct and delete your personal data. And fourth, the right to data security, without which trust is impossible.”

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