Apple's tech allies oppose the FBI, but still want your data
PALO ALTO, California (AP) — In its fight with the FBI, Apple insists it's defending the privacy and safety of all iPhone users by resisting government calls to help unlock an extremist's iPhone.
The FBI says it's only asking for narrow technical assistance in bypassing security features on a phone used by one of the shooters who killed 14 people in San Bernardino.
The same companies objected loudly after former government contractor Edward Snowden revealed the scope of National Security Agency surveillance programs that collected user data and even tapped their networks without their knowledge.
The companies have gone to court and Congress to limit that kind of government data-gathering, while also fighting attempts to weaken the encryption codes that shield your messages from prying eyes.
Yet privacy advocates have long complained that those companies reap billions of dollars by collecting all kinds of personal information, including records of customers' online behavior, and using it to target them for advertising.
Internet companies do operate very differently from traditional data brokers such as credit bureaus, which make their money by selling all kinds of information on individuals — from their income and bill-paying history to where they've lived and worked.
"Google does not sell your personal information," said Rachel Whetstone, then a senior vice president for the giant Internet company, in a speech last year.