Apple website gets a revamped privacy section

Apple continues to take a shot at competitors like Facebook and Google over data collection practices by launching a new privacy section on its website.

Apple.com/privacy provides information about its Privacy Policy, details on government data requests, and features like two-step verification and location tracking.

In an open letter to introduce the new addition, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the website is designed to explain how the firm handles personal information, what it does and doesn't collect, and why.

"We're going to make sure you get updates here about privacy at Apple at least once a year and whenever there are significant changes to our policies," he noted.

In a televised interview earlier this week, Cook hit out at its competitors who have business models based on data collection. In the letter, he continued to distance Apple from a strategy involving data collection.

"A few years ago, users of internet services began to realise that when an online service is free, you're not the customer. You're the product. But at Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn't come at the expense of your privacy," he continued.

"Our business model is very straightforward: We sell great products. We don't build a profile based on your email content or web browsing habits to sell to advertisers. We don't 'monetise' the information you store on your iPhone or in iCloud. And we don't read your email or your messages to get information to market to you."

Cook did acknowledge the firm does serve ads via the iAd platform but claimed it's a "very small" part of the business.

"iAd sticks to the same privacy policy that applies to every other Apple product. It doesn't get data from Health and HomeKit, Maps, Siri, iMessage, your call history, or any iCloud service like Contacts or Mail, and you can always just opt out altogether."

He also reaffirmed that Apple is not in cahoots with government agencies like the NSA.

"Finally, I want to be absolutely clear that we have never worked with any government agency from any country to create a backdoor in any of our products or services. We have also never allowed access to our servers. And we never will," he added.