Apple's Chief Privacy Officer Jane Horvath to Depart Company

[MacRumors]

Apple privacy chief Jane Horvath is set to leave the company to join a law firm, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Horvath has served as Apple's Chief Privacy Officer for the last couple of years, and before that, she was senior director of global privacy at the company.

Horvath has worked for Apple for more than a decade in total, and she has also worked at Google and was Chief Privacy Officer of the U.S. Department of Justice. Going forward, Horvath will be working at law firm Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher LLP, which has worked with Apple in the past and handled Apple's recent legal battle against Epic Games.

During her time as Chief Privacy Officer, Horvath spoke about privacy publicly on behalf of Apple on several occasions, including CES in 2020 and the 2022 Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection conference in Brussels.

Bloomberg says that Horvath was also responsible for Apple's dealings with trade groups and Capitol Hill, as well as compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe.

Apple has been dealing with major potential privacy issues as of late, and is facing legislation that would weaken the protections the App Store offers the iPhone in multiple countries. The Digital Markets Act in Europe calls for the sideloading of apps, as does U.S. legislation that's being considered. Apple has not provided details on who will replace Horvath.

Article Link: Apple's Chief Privacy Officer Jane Horvath to Depart Company

 

[XXPP]

How many such completely useless departments are there at Apple?

 

[GeoStructural]

How many such completely useless departments are there at Apple?

Hey, Privacy is not useless, it is a human right.

Everything that happens in my iPhone stays in the iPhone.

There is no way any app that went through the rigorous review process of the App Store is capable of harvesting my data, or scamming me out of my money, it is impossible.

/s

---

Privacy at Apple is just an arm of the Public Relations and Advertising office.

 

[XXPP]

Hey, Privacy is not useless, it is a human right.

Everything that happens in my iPhone stays in the iPhone.

There is no way any app that went through the rigorous review process of the App Store is capable of harvesting my data.

/s

You did not understand. These things should be handled by the Legal Department. Creating a special department with a million dollar boss is a waste of money.

 

[Naraxus]

Good riddance.

Apple is no longer the beacon of tech privacy it once was. Timmy can say whatever he wants to but when you try slipping in backdoors to your os's and grab your ankles for despotic regimes under the "follow laws....." claptrap your soapbox has cumbled.

Privacy, that used to be iPhone

 

[mystery hill]

She was probably frustrated from using that Intel iMac.

 

[GeoStructural]

Creating a special department with a million dollar boss is a waste of money.

Not when they can sell the Privacy bullcrap and make more than a million dollars, no, is not a waste of money for Apple, for them is coming up with way to sell their lie to the world.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Bailed before CSAM gets real

 

[antiprotest]

Hypocrisy. That's iPhone.

 

[I7guy]

It sounds like they needed someone to talk to our legislators and now this person got a nice job at a law firm. If she did her job, she would have been saving Apple billions in lost revenue.

 

[BootsWalking]

Other Chief Officers who might leave Apple:

Chief Human Rights Officer
Chief Employee Union Support Officer
Chief Quality Assurance Officer

 

[sorgo †]

And don’t let the metadata hit you on the way out!

 

[I7guy]

Other Chief Officers who might leave Apple:

Chief Human Rights Officer
Chief Employee Union Support Officer
Chief Quality Assurance Officer

Chief Entertainment Officer?

 

[DocMultimedia]

Always take a new job if you feel it is a positive for yourself. I have no issues with that basic principle. Always wish people the best in their new endeavors. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[KaliYoni]

she has also worked at Google and was Chief Privacy Officer of the U.S. Department of Justice.

And before that, for all you "dot-commers", Horvath was at AOL and Digital Cities. She may have made some bank there, depending on when and how she joined but I wouldn't be surprised if her Apple departure is tied to the vesting of a last tranche of super valuable stock/stock options.

YMMV

----------
ETA: prior to Apple, it looks like Horvath was based in the Mid Atlantic region for many years, including law school. So another possibility for her leaving Apple is that she's tired of dealing with time zone differences and/or cross-country travel. Gibson Dunn is a global firm that has an office in DC.

 

[ian87w]

Wait, Apple's chief privacy officer is someone who had worked at Google and DoJ? Maybe that's a good thing she's leaving.

 

[tridley68]

She will easily be replaced someone is always willing to do her job for equal or less money

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

Wait, Apple's chief privacy officer is someone who had worked at Google and DoJ? Maybe that's a good thing she's leaving.

I think people fail to realize there’s a selling point to privacy and it’s giving the illusion of privacy to consumers. Google, Meta and others are working hard at this illusion since people are starting to wake up so hiding it is harder.

 

[BigSmurf]

It is good that Apple has this function.

 

[gund1234]

How many such completely useless departments are there at Apple?

Privacy is important and Apple takes it seriously.
I am gald Apple is giving users more control on which apps can access what kind of data.

 

[TVreporter]

She’s probably wishing her departure was private.

The privacy battle ensuing - she’s abandoning ship.

 

[ian87w]

I think people fail to realize there’s a selling point to privacy and it’s giving the illusion of privacy to consumers. Google, Meta and others are working hard at this illusion since people are starting to wake up so hiding it is harder.

Thus it seems more like a positive in my view when an ex Google/DoJ person is leaving Apple.

 

[iPhoneFan5349]

You did not understand. These things should be handled by the Legal Department. Creating a special department with a million dollar boss is a waste of money.

The legal department won’t come up with ideas to protect the privacy of the customers…

 

[iPhoneFan5349]

She will easily be replaced someone is always willing to do her job for equal or less money

This is not flipping hamburgers though. They need to find the right fit because the person that gets elected will shape Apple’s approach towards privacy. In my opinion it’s a good thing she’s gone after the CSAM debacle

 

[Naraxus]

Privacy is important and Apple takes it seriously.

Is that why they've installed backdoors in iOS under guise of "for the children?

Or is it because they've handed over, quite eagerly I might add, the data on their servers for their Chinese customers to their Chinese masters?