About this article

Read time:

4 minutes

Category:

Content we like

Apple Vs The FBI

Today we’re all quite used to a certain degree of prying into our day-to-day activities. We live in a generation of monitoring, our emails and web history even certain phone conversations can be monitored if necessary and our movements captured all in the name of public safety or to expose a criminal.

If you’ve seen the news recently you may be aware of quite a high profile disagreement over mobile privacy. The FBI asked tech giant Apple, to unlock the phone of the one of the two San Bernardino killers. Prior to the deadly shoot out, the killers had destroyed all electronic deceives apart from an iPhone 5c, believed to be a work phone. The FBI was convinced that the phone held key information about the incident. However Apple has refused to unlock the device on the grounds of that hacking of any device compromises uses privacy. The FBI has now brought a court order against Apple under the All Write Act of 1789.

So what would it mean if the FBI won the court order? Certainly in this instance, to be able to obtain information from this device would obviously be a positive. Interestingly, the software needed by the FBI must have the digital signature from Apple to allow the iPhone to trust the system. If the FBI were to win, it would mean that there would be no reason that they couldn’t ask the same of any software company. For example, other mobile providers such as Samsung and HTC wouldn’t stand much of a chance against the FBI, if they were to request a password bypasser; thereby allowing the FBI and the government to gain access to any device they wish.

If you’ve seen the news recently you may be aware of quite a high profile disagreement over mobile privacy. The FBI asked tech giant Apple, to unlock the phone of the one of the two San Bernardino killers. Prior to the deadly shoot out, the killers had destroyed all electronic deceives apart from an iPhone 5c, believed to be a work phone. The FBI was convinced that the phone held key information about the incident. However Apple has refused to unlock the device on the grounds of that hacking of any device compromises uses privacy. The FBI has now brought a court order against Apple under the All Write Act of 1789.

So what would it mean if the FBI won the court order? Certainly in this instance, to be able to obtain information from this device would obviously be a positive. Interestingly, the software needed by the FBI must have the digital signature from Apple to allow the iPhone to trust the system. If the FBI were to win, it would mean that there would be no reason that they couldn’t ask the same of any software company. For example, other mobile providers such as Samsung and HTC wouldn’t stand much of a chance against the FBI, if they were to request a password bypasser; thereby allowing the FBI and the government to gain access to any device they wish.

As a B2B PR agency who has a strong insight into the technology industry we believe in privacy and security when it comes to a personal device. Would it really be the best outcome, if the government were allowed to access all our private data or is big brother destined to snoop into our personal affairs more than ever before?

Katherine Wilding is Skout’s newest recruit and a PR apprentice.

About this article

Read time:

4 minutes

Category:

Content we like

Q&A with Alex Gladwin: What does it mean to be a trustee for an EOB?

Rules of engagement: do you need an AI policy?

Browse more blog posts

Posted on
byIsobelle Yoxall
As you may know by now, this year Skout went through the process of becoming an employee-owned business (EOB)! This is an exciting move that provides great opportunities for everyone connected with the business, not just for our employees, but for our clients and everyone we will work with in the future. As part of the process, an employee-owned trust...
Posted on
byClaire Lamb
In short, yes. But that answer would make this a really brief blog 😉. With the UK Government estimating that one in six UK organisations, nearly half a million companies, have embraced at least one AI technology, the chances are your employees are already using it – whether officially or unofficially. One thing that we discovered when we started to...
Posted on
byJames Weaver
In today’s digital-first world, we constantly receive breaking news and developing stories around the clock. The dawn of the smart phone and rise of social media has given us a world of information at our fingertips and major news organisations’ rolling coverage can be as theatrical and gripping as the plays of old. Just as Shakespearean tragedies gripped audiences, today...
Posted on
byRob Skinner
If you’re working in B2B marketing in the digital commerce technology sector you’ll know what an incredibly complex landscape it has become! As online buying both by consumers and businesses has evolved, the range of technologies available to help businesses selling or purchasing online or digitally has grown hugely. Today, your key audiences are being bombarded with marketing content covering...
Posted on
byJack Snell
Why was PR your chosen career?  Without it sounding like the biggest cliché in the industry, I just happened to fall into PR unintentionally. I applied to study journalism at Leeds Beckett University but they replied telling me that the course was already full, heart-breaking stuff 😔. Instead, they offered me a place on the public relations course, so I...
Posted on
byJames Bentley
You may have seen recently the brilliant news that Skout is now an employee-owned business as our founding shareholders, Rob Skinner and Claire Lamb, signed 100 per cent of the company’s ownership over to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) which acts on the behalf of our team. It’s a move that provides great opportunities for everyone connected with the business,...
Posted on
byClaire James
Generative AI (such as ChatGPT) has caused a bit of a storm in the marketing world but its power to transform is being embraced by other industries to significant advantage. In this blog I am looking specifically at the retail industry and how it is adopting GenAI to help shape the future of customer experience whilst also reducing costs. Creating...
Posted on
byLee Simpson
From Meet Ups to Expos, the tech industry is one that thrives on knowledge and best-practice sharing. Yet all too often tech events fail to hit the mark when it comes to offering tangible value, instead created by corporate machines as something of a vehicle for self-promotion.   Manchester’s Amy Newton is on a mission to change that, striving to reinvent...
Posted on
byRebecca Brown
AI has been the hot topic in our team meetings over the past few months, with the Skout team debating the pros and cons of its use. From using it to assist with desk research and providing inspiration for headlines through to transcribing interviews to help remove the need for extensive notetaking. Its flipside, however, has driven conversations around its...
Posted on
byHonor Williamson
As World Wellbeing Week draws to a close, we wanted to shine a light on wellbeing at work. While every area of wellbeing is hugely important in all aspects of life, it’s especially important in the workplace – we’re there nearly every day, after all! We spoke to Chris Snookes, Group Head of Marketing, Products and Markets at our client...

Send us a message

Download The B2B business relationship report

The B2B relationship renaissance – did digital kill it? The importance of relationships throughout the customer buying journey. Please complete the form below and receive a download link via email.