Apple and An Issue Concerning Consumers' Privacy

Memo
To: Apple Executives
From:
Date: February 9, 2020
Subject: Apple Privacy Matter
The request by the U.S. Department of Justice comes at a critical moment in the history of the company. One of the main concerns of consumers in the technology sector is privacy. As consumers share and store their personal information in technological devices and internet platforms, they expect the respective technology and internet companies to protect their privacy. The ability to protect the privacy of consumers is thus one of the ways players in the technology sector can achieve a competitive advantage. While agreeing to unlock the drug dealer’s phone will be instrumental in helping the fight against drug trafficking, it will set a bad precedent that would endanger not only the privacy of consumers but also the performance of the company. Therefore, Apple should continue resisting the government requests the drug dealer’s phone as well as devices for other consumers.
The company should not relent in its resistance to government requests to unlock the drug dealer’s phone to avoid risking the privacy of its customers. As a technology company, the protection of the data of its consumers is one of its important practices. Agreeing to the demands of the government would mean the company’s engineers writing a program that decrypts devices of users. When such a program gets in the hands of law enforcement or hackers, there will be a risk to the security and privacy of its mill...