Compliance Management, Privacy

Apple engineers might quit over FBI case; protests planned at next hearing

Lending credence to Apple's contentions to a California court that compelling it to write code to crack an iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino shooters was “is fundamentally 'offensive to' Apple's core principles, and would 'pose a severe threat to the autonomy' of Apple and its engineers,” some of those engineers said they might leave their jobs if the government prevails in its case against the Cupertino, Calif. tech giant, according to a report in the New York Times.

Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier had told customers in a letter that “the same engineers who built strong encryption into the iPhone to protect our users would, ironically, be ordered to weaken those protections and make our users less safe.”

The company and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are gearing up for the next round in their showdown, scheduled for March 22 in that same court.

Fight for the Future said it would take its #SaveSecurity campaign to the court building, congregating outside during the hearing.

“This case is not just about one phone, it's about the future of safety and security for millions of people all over the world,” Evan Greer, campaign director of Fight for the Future, said in a release sent to SCMagazine.com. “We'll be outside the courthouse to make sure those people's voices are heard, because what the government is trying to do in this case doesn't just threaten our basic rights, it puts all of us in danger. Encryption protects our hospitals, airports, and water treatment facilities. Undermining security risks lives.”

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