It has recently come to light, in the last two years that China has been requesting the release of source code from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), contrary to the beliefs of the U.S government. CEO of Apple Tim Cook stated that these requests were explicitly refused.
This information was released by the lawyers of the company to lawmakers on Tuesday in response to the attack of U.S law enforcement in regards to their stance on technology.
The relation between Apple and China which led to this accusation
It is well known that one of Apple’s most lucrative markets is China. Due to the strict stance that China has with regards to technological innovations, China has requested and was approved for security checks on Apple technology.
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This in combination with the growth of the China target market sales by 14% to allocate a total of $18.37 billion alone in the first quarter – speculation has been made if China has Apple in their pockets. Apples general council Bruce Sewell stated that these allegations are without merit, and Apple had not handed over any kind of source code to China.
The origination of the fued between Apple and the U.S government
Apple has not only denied access to China in terms of allocating their source code, but FBI and Apple are also in a constant feud – this is due mainly to the San Bernardino, California mass shooting. Apple was requested to unlock information on one of the suspects involved in the mass shooting, they, however, refused.
Tim Cook has explicitly refused to build any sort of back door into the iOS as it could set a precedent for dangerous circumstances and theft of data.
On Tuesday, Apple and FBI were making a further appearance in Congress, to attest to the access of encrypted devices and the necessity of this for FBI. The government has intensified efforts through the courts to force the hand of Apple into cracking encrypted iPhones through announcing that they are continuing with the appeal in a New York drug case.