Apple vs. Feds: Is iPhone Privacy a Basic Human Right?

fliptop writes:

Leaders today must be ready to take a stand on thorny social and political issues. A case study by Nien-he Hsieh and Henry McGee examines how Apple CEO Tim Cook turned calls for data access into a rallying cry for privacy, and the complexities that followed:

Apple CEO Tim Cook didn't come to his post with an activist agenda, yet when law enforcement officials began pressuring the company to hand over iPhone users' data without their permission, Cook took what he believed was a moral stance to protect consumers' privacy.

[...] "We believe that a company that has values and acts on them can really change the world," Cook said in 2015, a year after Apple debuted new privacy measures that blocked law enforcement from accessing its customers' data. "There is an opportunity to do work that is infused with moral purpose." He said shareholders who were only looking for a return on investment "should get out of the stock."

A Harvard Business School case study and its revision, Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A) and (B), illustrates the complex ramifications that companies should consider when putting their stake in the ground on challenging societal issues like privacy. The authors of the case offer a suggestion for CEOs: Few corporations can expect to steer clear of the lightning-rod issues of the day, so perhaps it's best to meet them head on as part of the job.

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