There can be little trust in corporations that go to such huge lengths to avoid civic obligations – such as paying taxSo is Apple fighting for everyone’s liberty? It is defying the US government’s request that it must back open up the iPhone of the terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook,who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, because the software so created will compromise the integrity of every iPhone. Or is it another example of a hi-tech company bogusly invoking the threats to privacy mounted by the unusual digital age as a marketing strategy – and carelessly putting the lives of every citizen a little more at risk?The US is riven by the argument, and with the need for security counterbalanced with the need for personal privacy. Donald Trump has called for a boycott of Apple products,while most – but not all – of California’s tech giants have lined up behind Apple. It is an argument that Britain needs to have with no less urgency. These issues confront us too, in a country perhaps far too alert to trade off personal freedom before any call for security.
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Source: theguardian.com