Apple Is The 'Better Mind' In The Tech Space, Pro Says

Apple Inc. AAPL deserves credit for disabling Facebook, Inc. FB and Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL's internal applications due to privacy violations, according to Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer.

What Happened

Last week, Apple temporarily removed the enterprise certificate for Facebook amid reports Facebook was taking advantage of a Apple program. TechCrunch said Facebook paid users, many of which were teenagers, $20 a month to download an iOS "Facebook Research" app.

Speaking on "Bloomberg Technology" Friday evening, Steyer said Facebook's latest scandal is a "catastrophe" and the company needs to "clean up its act." The fact that Facebook made it clear in its disclosure form what it was doing and why it was paying users $20 a month is part of "the greater issue." The disclosure forms that users signed is as "clear as the 87-page privacy policy you get on your iPhone that you never read and you just check 'yes, accept.'"

Why It's Important

Apple's move to temporarily ban Facebook and Google from its enterprise certificate marks an "important moment in recent tech history," Steyer said. This should be viewed as favorably as Apple is acting as the "better mind" in an industry void of government regulation.

"Apple is very different then Facebook," he said, "and I actually think what Apple did in this case was completely thoughtful, respectful. They shut it down after a day, they taught [Facebook] a lesson in the absence of common sense regulation by the government."

Looking forward, Steyer said all stakeholders need to be asking tech companies "what's your responsibility to society." The tech industry needs to start showing better leadership on top of new government legislation.

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