Yesterday Tim Cook published a public letter to customers on Apple’s website, wherein he explains why Apple is challenging a request by the US government to build a backdoor into the iPhone:

The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.

Opposing this order is not something we take lightly. We feel we must speak up in the face of what we see as an overreach by the U.S. government.

I have the utmost respect for Cook for standing up to the US government’s unreasonable and outrageous request. This is a hugely important issue: he’s fighting to protect our right to privacy, and he seems to be the only one with power in the tech industry who cares enough to do it.