Apple leaves privacy trade group citing 'weak privacy laws'

Apple has dropped out of the State Privacy and Security Coalition (SPSC) after expressing concerns that the trade group pushed legislation that would not adequately protect user data.

The SPSC bills itself as "a coalition of major Internet, communications, retail, and media companies that works for robust and consistency data security, breach notice, privacy and consumer protection regulation," according to a letter the group penned to the Federal Trade Commission in 2016. And, apparently, Apple has left the group because the company felt that the group was not doing enough to protect consumers' privacy.

According to a report from Politico's Emily Birnbaum, the group consists of giants like AT&T, Google, Meta, and formerly, Apple.

Also as per Birnbaum's report, privacy advocates have noted that the SPSC is "pushing for weak privacy laws in the states as efforts to pass a federal privacy bill stall in Congress." The report also highlights the SPSC's hand in passing legislation that favors the industry rather than the consumer.

Apple's exit from the group comes a week before CEO Tim Cook is set to give the keynote for IAPP's Global Privacy Summit.

Apple puts privacy first across its ecosystem of devices like using end-to-end encryption or features like App Tracking Transparency. More privacy related features are expected to be announced during the 2022 Worldwide Developer Conference to be held in June.