Summary Of The Letter To Our Backdoors By Tim Cook

The government of the United States has admitted to being willing to spy on the citizens of America. In the letter “A Message to Our Customers”, written by Apple CEO Tim Cook and published in the Los Angeles Times, Cook describes the government’s attempts to create a “backdoor to the iPhone.” (Cook) Cook’s letter has an easy to follow format, with a title every few paragraphs summarizing the information following it. The first title is “The Need for Encryption”. Cook starts off by mentioning the constant usage of phones these days and how the information on our phones must be protected. Even though iPhones are Apple products, Cook simply states that “the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.” This part is so significant because

In the ending paragraphs of this section, the reader is notified that with the technology the government is asking for, someone “would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession” (Cook) and while the government insists it wouldn’t be used for anything else, “there is no way to guarantee such control.” (Cook) It’s beyond just the government having all personal information, now anyone can be granted access. The third section is entitled “The Threat to Data Security” where Cook boldly suggests that the government is lying, or does not know what they’re talking about. Never before has a company been asked endanger their customers and if Apple were to make the operating system that the government is asking for, they would be reversing all the hard work they’ve done to protect customers. The final section is “A Dangerous Precedent” where Cook describes what the new operating system would do and how all personal information could be

Most people who wrote in suggested boycotting Apple, but I doubt that will ever happen. Apple stated that they weren’t supporting the terrorists by not creating this operating system, but I presume that some people don’t believe them. While the situation is quite sad, I’m sure more people want their information protected. I’m not discrediting those who responded, but no matter how upset they are, I just don’t think they could boycott such a powerful company. Cook used some admirable techniques to get people on his side in his letter. He used an powerful analogy relating this operating system to a “master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks.” (Cook) He continued in a patriotic fashion, saying that doing what the government asked would “hurt only the well-meaning and law-abiding citizens who rely on companies like Apple” (Cook) and “we fear this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.” (Cook) I think these techniques were ingenious because every American can relate. The government is supposed to protect us and here they are, asking for a backdoor to all the personal information we have, and it seems like Apple has more respect for