The Pune Mirror edition of 20 February 2016 carried a column by my fellow alum Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist of the Aditya Birla Group. Although it was titled “The anti-national Apple CEO”, it portrayed Tim Cook more as a patriot than an anti-national although he’d challenged the FBI order on the San Bernardino case.
I wrote an email to Ajit sharing my thoughts. The text of my letter is given below.
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20 February 2016
Dear Mr. Ajit Ranade:
Greetings from a regular reader of your Pune Mirror column who also happens to be an alum from IIT Bombay (C85, Chemical Engineering, H4).
I liked your above mentioned article in today’s Pune Mirror.
I agree with the spirit of your article. However, there are two lines in your article that I think need amplification:
- The line “That their data… will not be leaked” implies that Apple refused to hand over information it possessed. However, according to Tim Cook’s letter to Apple customers (http://www.apple.com/customer-letter/), “When the FBI has requested data that’s in our possession, we have provided it.” Interestingly, the letter does not specify the nature of the information that Apple did provide to FBI.
- The line “Even against a police warrant” runs somewhat counter to Tim Cook’s statement, “Apple complies with valid subpoenas and search warrants, as we have in the San Bernardino case.”
The way I understand this issue, Apple DID hand over information IT HAD to FBI, so the controversy is really about the information that Apple DOES NOT have.
I’m not a legal expert but I’m reasonably sure that if Apple had refused to comply with subpoenas and search warrants regarding information that it DID have, someone from Apple would be behind bars – both in USA or India.
I thank you for your consideration.
Thanks and Regards.
Ketharaman
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I wasn’t expecting this but Pune Mirror also published a slightly edited version of my email in its “TELL THE ED” section today. This is reproduced below.
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UPDATE DATED 25 DECEMBER 2018:
Enough proof that Apple did hand over private information to government.
"Apple admits giving governments access to thousands of iPhones and other devices." https://t.co/GfM5A8Yy9h . <Just in case you thought Apple is Holier Than Thou on matters of privacy>.
— Ketharaman Swaminathan (@s_ketharaman) December 25, 2018
UPDATE DATED 9 JANUARY 2020:
“When the FBI requested information from us relating to this case a month ago, we gave them all of the data in our possession and we will continue to support them with the data we have available.” ~ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-seeks-apple-s-help-unlocking-phones-suspected-pensacola-naval-n1111636
Once again, Apple says it gave law enforcement ALL THE DATA IT HAS.
