“Silicon Valley’s leading companies – including Facebook, Google and Snapchat – are working on their own increased privacy technology as Apple fights the US government over encryption, The Guardian has learned,” Danny Yadron reports for The Guardian.
“The projects could antagonize authorities just as much as Apple’s more secure iPhones, which are currently at the center of the San Bernardino shooting investigation,” Yadron reports. “They also indicate the industry may be willing to back up their public support for Apple with concrete action.”
MacDailyNews Take: Aww, authorities might be antagonized. TFB.
“Polling has shown public opinion is divided over the case. And any new encyrption efforts by tech firms put them on a collision course with Washington,” Yadron reports. “Barack Obama has also made it clear he thinks some technology companies are going too far. ‘If government can’t get in, then everyone’s walking around with a Swiss bank account in their pocket, right?’ he said 11 March at the SXSW technology conference in Austin, Texas.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s next advertising campaign should be “iPhone. It’s a Swiss bank account in your pocket.” Buy up every second of commercial time on network TV in Washington D.C. and run it solid, back-to-back-to-back.
“WhatsApp has been rolling out strong encryption to portions of its users since 2014, making it increasingly difficult for authorities to tap the service’s messages. The issue is personal for founder Jan Koum, who was born in Soviet-era Ukraine,” Yadron reports. “When Apple CEO Tim Cook announced in February that his company would fight the government in court, Koum posted on his Facebook account: ‘Our freedom and our liberty are at stake.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Those who’ve been oppressed understand. It’s the dumbed down products of U.S. public schools who clamor for the government to trample their rights (and the rights of the rest of us who get it) that need a wakeup call.
“WhatsApp already offers Android and iPhone users encrypted messaging. In the coming weeks, it plans to offer users encrypted voice calls and encrypted group messages, two people familiar with the matter said. That would make WhatsApp, which is free to download, very difficult for authorities to tap,” Yadron reports. “The efforts come at a crossroads for Silicon Valley. Google, Facebook, Snapchat, Amazon, Microsoft and Twitter have all signed on to legal briefs supporting Apple in its court case.”
“One of the challenges for the search giant is that there are some types of data for which it remains challenging to offer end-to-end security, both for usability and business model reasons,” Yadron reports. “Google sells targeted ads by scanning users’ email, a process that gets tricky if the contents remain encrypted.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: You want to stay away from Google’s “free” products and services if you value your privacy and security.
SEE ALSO:
Google’s Eric Schmidt is joining the Pentagon’s new ‘innovation board’ – March 7, 2016
Edward Snowden’s privacy tips: ‘Get rid of Dropbox,” avoid Facebook and Google – October 13, 2014
Why I switched from Google to DuckDuckGo – July 4, 2015
Eric Schmidt-backed startup stealthily working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House – October 9, 2015
Did Google’s Eric Schmidt just call Apple’s Tim Cook a liar? – June 19, 2015
Google averages one White House meeting per week during Obama administration – March 25, 2015
Eric Schmidt says Google ‘far more secure’ than Apple, denies harvesting data – October 3, 2014
Google’s Eric Schmidt: Drones should be banned from private use – December 6, 2013
Eric Schmidt on Android: ‘It’s more secure than the iPhone’ – October 8, 2013
Obama to reward Google’s Schmidt with Cabinet post? – December 5, 2012
Consumer Watchdog calls for probe of Google’s inappropriate relationship with Obama administration – January 25, 2011
37 states join probe into Google’s questionable Wi-Fi data collection – July 22, 2010
Google Street View Wi-Fi data included passwords and email – June 18, 2010