Google CEO Sundar Pichai has broken his silence on where he stands in Apple's fight against a court order that would force it to hack into an iPhone by creating a special version of the device's firmware, saying the order could "compromise users' privacy."
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a letter Tuesday that Apple would fight the order, arguing that this "chilling" precedent of a government agency requesting the tools to bypass the security of any of its commercial devices would inevitably "expose [its] customers to a greater risk of attack."
Pichai echoed the words of Cook in a series of tweets, and while he said that law enforcement faces "significant challenges" to ensure public safety, he suggested the FBI's demands went beyond traditional cooperation between tech firms and law enforcement.
1/5 Important post by @tim_cook. Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users’ privacy
— sundarpichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016
2/5 We know that law enforcement and intelligence agencies face significant challenges in protecting the public against crime and terrorism — sundarpichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016
3/5 We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders — sundarpichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016
4/5 But that’s wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data. Could be a troubling precedent — sundarpichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016
5/5 Looking forward to a thoughtful and open discussion on this important issue
— sundarpichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016
Pichai isn't alone in his support of Apple. The San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation is considering filing an amicus brief in support of the tech giant, and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden came out in support of Apple on Wednesday, saying it should be the FBI's job to protect citizens' rights and not Apple's.
"The FBI is creating a world where citizens rely on Apple to defend their rights, rather than the other way around," he said, according to CNN.
With Pichai's statement, not only has Google made its stance clear, but it also debunked Snowden's assumption that Google was favoring the government's position over that of Google users.
This is the most important tech case in a decade. Silence means @google picked a side, but it's not the public's. https://t.co/mi5irJcr25 — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 17, 2016
