Apple CEO Slams Silicon Valley Rivals Over Use of Data (1)

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook lashed into companies like Google and Facebook Inc. that collect user data, equating their services to “surveillance,” as he touted the importance of privacy and legislation to protect it.

The comments, given at an EU privacy conference in Brussels on Oct. 24, come months after the bloc implemented strict new data protection rules and as Apple begins to mend a difficult relationship with the EU following a clash over 13 billion euros in allegedly unpaid taxes.

In some of his harshest rebukes of his competitors yet, Cook sought to distinguish the iPhone maker ...