CES 2020 will be held in Las Vegas between January 7, 2020, and January 10, 2020. As usual, the event will see tech companies from around the world showcasing their biggest and most innovative products and Apple is officially returning to the Las Vegas CES technology conference for the first time in decades — to discuss its stance on consumer privacy, rather than pitch a new hardware product.
Apple formally participated in the Consumer Electronics Show back in 1992 in Chicago when the company’s then CEO John Schully unveiled the company’s failed Newton personal digital assistant. Now the tech giant is set to take the stage at Las Vegas on January 7.
However unlike other tech giants like Google and Amazon that use the stage to talk about developments and features coming to their virtual assistants – Google Assistant and Alexa respectively – or tech companies that unveil their new products, Apple will talk about consumer privacy.
CES 2020’s agenda for January 7 lists Apple’s senior director for global privacy, Jane Horvath, as one of the speakers for a discussion on consumer privacy that will be moderated by the head of research, Wing Venture Capital, Rajeev Chand.
Horvath will be accompanied by Facebook’s chief privacy officer, Erin Egan, Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, and Procter and Gamble’s global privacy officer, Susan Shook.
It is worth noting that the Cupertino, California based tech giant has had a subtle presence at CES for years. While last year the company put up gigantic banners in Las Vegas mocking other tech companies for their own privacy practices (remember the famous “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone” banner that Apple put up on the SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel across LVCC?), company’s employees have reportedly been seen roaming the halls at the show for year to scout the competition and looking for future technologies.
Apple might not be launching any product at the upcoming CES 2020, however, its formal presence indicates that it is more willing to enagage with other tech companies now. It also reinforces Apple’s focus on ‘privacy’. Device launch or no, it will be refreshing to see Apple at CES 2020.
