I wasn't impressed a few weeks ago when
Unfortunately, it still can't win that race. No business can. There are two reasons why, and only one real solution:
First, hacks are inevitable. While Apple can declare its respect for privacy, it cannot guarantee it. Kudos to the company for explaining why it can’t violate what its customers want kept secret, even at the behest of the government, and that it has wonderfully robust technology. But data get stolen all the time (we hear about only a fraction of the most egregious infractions), and much of Apple’s authority on the topic is dependent on its privacy provisions being technically impossible to crack. Such reassurances are almost as common as the aforementioned crimes.
If the company gave detailed and transparent reassurances of what it would do in the event of a security breach, it would leap even further ahead of the competition. Don’t tell us fires can’t happen; rather, explain how you’d put one out and minimize the damage, even though your plans are fireproof.
Second, Apple could change its mind. It’s important to understand the distinction it makes from its ad-based competitors: Apple has no good reason to read emails, track site visits, or do other snooping things that would enable it to target ads, because it makes its money selling products (hardware, software & content). But that doesn’t mean it has forsworn the practice until the end of time, nor that it won’t ever decide to let third-parties benefit from using said info. Further, it still collects a lot of user data, so the stuff is accruing on servers somewhere, so it's at risk (see point above). Today’s privacy advocate could be tomorrow’s exploiter.
There’s no good way to address this second issue, since nobody would begrudge a company for asserting its right to adapt to changing market requirements, though there is precedent for businesses to operate within some steadfast rules. They’re supposed to obey the law, for instance, and comply to regulatory requirements. Also, companies seem somewhat obligated to certain sliding scales on moral issues, so I guess it’s not impossible to think that Apple could declare something(s) truly off-limits. But it wouldn't be a binding commitment.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The real solution is beyond Apple's reach, as well as that of any company: The answer is government, or at least some public institutions that are not only independent, but equally powerful and accountable to citizens, not just consumers. I know such a statement is anathema in our era of free market tech solutions for every problem, but history and facts can be difficult that way.
Think about it. Why did Americans give corporations another chance after the Great Depression of the 1920s? FDIC, for one, along with a number of other legislative actions that either regulated, or outright limited the things businesses could do. Deposit insurance was the counterbalance to the risks of banks making bad decisions and/or getting robbed (i.e. hacked). The government formed an internal paramilitary force to chase bad guys (the FBI), and our process of elections continues to impede officials from instituting sweeping or wholly invisible changes to the rules by which businesses play, albeit implemented somewhat imperfectly.
Various regulatory functions of the government also enable confidence and trust in businesses today, whether focused on product safety, specifically, or things like environmental protection, more broadly. The Fourth Amendment certainly applies, but it only comes into play if the right to not be unreasonably searched or seized has been violated. But it does nothing for regulating ongoing corporate conduct.
Where are the institutions that guarantee privacy? There's certainly no Sharing Economy disruptive technology or crowdsourcing widget on the horizon that will do the job. Why are individuals pretty much on their own when it comes to this important issue, and left to contend with the promises and proclivities of businesses who aren't necessarily accountable to them?
Apple could step into the void, at least somewhat. It could form an independent board, and give it authority to monitor and manage its privacy-related activities. It could create a mini-democracy among its customers, and give them the power to decide issues that the privacy board brought to the light of day. It could take out oodles of insurance as protection for its customers from the inevitability of a privacy hack.
Those steps seem incomprehensibly huge, as well as unlikely. But without them…or actions like them from credible and reliable third parties…Apple can’t hope to fix the consumer privacy problem on its own.
