Apple’s Cook Picks Up Where Snowden Left Off in Privacy Debate

Edward Snowden stoked the debate over mass government surveillance.
Tim Cook may be the one to rein it in.
By revealing the scope of U.S. monitoring of personal information, the former CIA employee forced Americans to confront the intrusion into their privacy, and also created an opening for the public to question the government’s activities.
Apple Inc.’s chief executive officer is taking the next step by saying ‘no’ to a court order that would force the company to create special software needed by the FBI to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers.
After almost two weeks of legal filings and public salvos, the first direct face-off will happen on Tuesday, when representatives from Apple and the FBI are scheduled to appear in front of a House Judiciary Committee hearing on encryption.