“Edward Snowden stoked the debate over mass government surveillance,” Alex Webb and Selina Wang report for Bloomberg. “Tim Cook may be the one to rein it in.”
“By revealing the scope of U.S. monitoring of personal information, the former CIA employee forced Americans to confront the intrusion into their privacy, and also created an opening for the public to question the government’s activities,” Webb and Wang report. “Apple Inc.’s chief executive officer is taking the next step by saying ‘no’ to a court order that would force the company to create special software needed by the FBI to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers.”
“Cook’s pushback has effectively put in motion a legal process that Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually have to resolve,” Webb and Wang report. “‘Tim Cook has shown himself to be an important privacy advocate, just as Edward Snowden has,’ said Harmit Kambo, director of campaigns and development at advocacy group Privacy International. ‘When someone in such a powerful position as Tim Cook is advocating for privacy, it’s something that governments have to take seriously. He’s playing an extremely valuable role in this massively important debate.'”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we’ve oft said, we are very lucky to have Tim Cook as CEO of Apple Inc.
SEE ALSO:
Obama administration set to expand sharing of data that N.S.A. intercepts – February 28, 2016
If Apple loses, your home could be the next thing that’s unlocked: Access to your security cameras would be just a judge order away – February 28, 2016
The Apple vs. FBI fight is about something more basic than software and laws – February 28, 2016
Apple privacy battle with Washington looms as watershed moment – February 26, 2016
Apple’s lawyer: If we lose, it will lead to a ‘police state’ – February 26, 2016
Apple: The law already exists that protects us from U.S. government demands to hack iPhone – February 26, 2016