Apple works with China but not the FBI (2016)

Tell China no, they extricate you from the country, and rewrite history that you never existed.

Tell the FBI no, they'll posture, threaten, and sue, but not do anything too extreme that can't be payed off with lobbying and other backdoor political activity.

Apple won't bite the rather large hand that feeds them, or manufactures 100% all of their overpriced gadgets that supply them profits from the rest of the world. China already has all their intellectual property handed over gracefully, they really don't need Apple other than as a brand.

So, question.

Does China afford people and companies the same ability to “not work with the FBI” that the United States does?

Because at the end of the day, Apple is following US law by refusing to freely hand things over. That’s what warrants, etc, are for.

In the US we intentionally make it theoretically hard for law enforcement to do their job so they’re theoretically more likely to get the right person if the full flow of law enforcement, all the way through the courts with capable, well-funded and appropriately timed lawyers are allowed to do their jobs.

What’s more frustrating with Apple is that a lot of data on iCloud is still not encrypted in a way where Apple doesn’t have access to the decryption key (and hence cannot hand over meaningful data). This was reported by Reuters last year as being due to pressure from the FBI. [1]

There is an argument to be made for convenience (especially for data recovery when a device is lost) as a contrasting factor when we talk about end to end encryption, but Apple doesn’t even give that choice to the user.

[1]: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusiv...

Apple does comply with the FBI, and a lot of other governments, when it comes to data requests.

> STAFF WRITER

Thought for sure this was an op-ed. But, it helps to know the context was this was back in 2016.

Think about this: if only the snapdragon based devices were as well-designed as the Apple SoCs, the focus back then (and now) wouldn't be on just Apple - it would also be on Qualcomm and device OEMs.

I don't prefer iOS but I really wish Android's security & privacy were as good. It's slowly getting closer. But Apple is raising the bar again - now with anti-tracking features.

Notefor dang: this is from 2016 and should say (2016)

Seems like a lot of posture and innuendo without a substantive argument. I was hoping to read that Apple was cooperating with Chinese security forces but nothing is actually said on this topic. At least it does mention the removal of some apps relating to Tibet; since then Apple has done the same in HK. I don't know if they have done so in other countries (removed apps due to political pressure).

But the Chinese SKUs have the same security mechanisms as the US SKUs and there is no evidence that the FBI faces any greater or less challenges in accessing phone data.

Germany also has a "local data storage" requirement but I guess they aren't scary like China is.

Hmm. My first thought is that this is not China. We have different expectations here and ones that sometimes run counter to the conveniences US law enforcement would like to have. Whatever happens in China, my expectations are that our goverment should work differently here and Apple should as well.

I’d have a lot less issue with companies selling to China if they didn’t simultaneously pretend to be moral forces for good. Michael Jordan understood this years ago and I will forever have more respect for him than Lebron and his selective activism.

As they say, a man’s true character comes to light in hardship; and there is nothing difficult about adopting the moral crusade of the day back here in the so-called Free World. What matters is how you act when things are difficult, when you have something to lose.

I recall talking to an ex Apple employee who basically said the same thing, Apple really has no moral standing lecturing other companies on privacy when it has essentially capitulated to the Chinese government.

This makes sense to me, there is legal and cultural differences.

China is a sovereign country, and Apple is just playing by the rules in that country, one that is rooted in authoritarianism and surveillance.

In America, although companies could voluntarily work with law enforcement, the cultural norm and historical momentum is rooted in pushing back against big government and the people’s role in checking the government’s power. There are many different viewpoints around this and those ideas constantly changing.

It should be no surprise though, that Apple may have different strategies in different counties.

Are China and the FBI asking Apple to do the same thing?

2016.

—?

NYT needs to sort out the em dash in their headline.

Slaves in the supply chain...

(2016)

due to user expectations, no doubt

Nice try FBI

Palantir's leader, Dr. Alexzander Karp, was, of course, entirely right in his prescient letter to investors earlier this year calling other big tech companies "potentially treasonous." The Apples of the world have lost sight of who actually holds their reins. We need a strong national leader to bring them to heel and remind them that serving the needs of the Western people and states is far more "moral" (and what do the Apples know about "morals"?!) than serving the needs of authoritatorian states overseas.