Apple and the FBI are not the best of friends right now due to the Cupertino giant's unwillingness to unlock a single iPhone. For its defiance, Apple has gained several supporters from the tech industry, but we have to say, hypocrisy is ripe here.
Big companies such as Facebook, the largest social network in the world, and Google, the largest search engine provider in the world, have all rallied to Apple's side in support against the FBI, according to Indian Express. The interesting thing about this is because both Google and Facebook are not so different from the FBI.
These companies rally to protect your privacy from prying eyes they say, but are quick to gobble up your data and sell them off to the highest bidder.
Google and Apple have done things in the past that were dangerous to user's privacy on the web, and guess what? They will continue to do so because collecting data is central in their business models. Still, they and others are prepared to go up against the government for its mass data collection.
We're not saying what the government is doing is in any way right, we're just pointing out hypocrisy at the highest level.
Privacy advocates have complained time and time again about these companies and their need to collect user data. The data collected are used to attract advertisers, and by doing so, these companies make billions in the process.
Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, has attacked his competitors in the past by saying his company does not rely on ad revenue to stay afloat.
"When an online service is free, you're not the customer. You're the product," says Cook in a statement to Gadgets 360.
It is then surprising to see Apple allowing these companies to come out and pretend as if they are white knights in shining armor made of diamonds.
Some might say the government's need for human data is more nefarious than what tech companies need them for. This likely the truth, however, privacy is still privacy, so collecting data should be viewed as wrong in both ways.
We see many consumers standing in support of Apple, it would be great to see them stand up to Google, Facebook, and others to end the mass data collection blight on the web.