Refusing to unlock physical devices is good publicity, since it helps with Apple's image as a privacy company. Cooperating with law enforcement to hand over iCl

Refusing to unlock physical devices is good publicity, since it helps with Apple's image as a privacy company. Cooperating with law enforcement to hand over iCloud backups means they don't pay much of a price for that publicity. I'm sure Apple justifies this around their iCloud user agreements and the fact that third-party stored data doesn't deserve as much protection, but: Android has deployed end-to-end encrypted backup based on a user-controlled PIN [1] and Apple has explicitly refused to do this despite having the tech in place [3], allegedly at the behest of the FBI [2]. Hard to look at this as anything but a deliberate business decision. [1] https://security.googleblog.com/2018/10/google-and-android-have-your-back-by.html https://security.googleblog.com/2018/10/google-and-android-h... [2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusive/exclusive-apple-dropped-plan-for-encrypting-backups-after-fbi-complained-sources-idUSKBN1ZK1CT?il=0 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-fbi-icloud-exclusiv... [3] https://www.blackhat.com/docs/us-16/materials/us-16-Krstic.pdf https://www.blackhat.com/docs/us-16/materials/us-16-Krstic.p...