Google CEO Sundar Pichai Just Threw in With Apple Versus the FBI

Silicon Valley moguls are beginning to circle the wagons against the FBI’s attempts to compromise the security of their products. Near the end of Apple’s first day at war with the FBI over the government organization’s requests to disable an important security feature in the San Bernardino shooters’ phones, Google CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted a carefully-worded statement standing up for the internal security of the tech companies’ products.

The Apple vs. the FBI case is an enormous story for several very important reasons.

First: precedent. Pichai knows that if Apple is forced to put cracks in their security system so the government can break in, Google could be next. 

Second, compromising the internal security measures of a device could have devastating consequences for other users, not just the ones being investigated for a crime. The battle between Apple CEO Tim Cook and the Federal Government has been brewing for weeks, causing even Presidential hopefuls to weigh in.

Apple appears to have the public on their side too, meaning the Google CEO is probably shrewd to keep his company on the side of many customers. An organization called Fight for the Future planned widespread protests against government intrusions into their cell phone software.

But on the other side, the FBI continues to pressure Congress to pass encryption legislation, and politicians are on both sides of the aisle, including Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and Republican Senator Tom Cotton.

Apple is still resisting the court order to unlock the San Bernardino shooters phones, and all signs point to a long battle ahead.