Apple CEO Tim Cook has warned of “dire consequences” if tech companies can’t protect the privacy of those who use their products.

Giving up our privacy to digital technologies exposes us to greater risks than just identity theft and financial losses—serious though those things are, Cook said in a brief speech at a cybersecurity summit in Silicon Valley on Friday.

“History has shown us that sacrificing our right to privacy can have dire consequences,” Cook said.

“We still live in a world where all people are not treated equally,” he said, “where too many people do not feel free to practice their religion or express their opinion or love who they choose, a world in which that information can make the difference between life or death.”

You can read the full story in an article by James Niccolai in the PC World web site at http://goo.gl/1MSuTj.