Apple vs. FBI: An Ethical Dilemma

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Business Ethics
Apple vs. FBI

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Ethics is defined as moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or conducting of a
particular activity. It deals with the fairness, justness, rightness or wrongness of actions.
Business ethics are referred to code of principals which governs most business decisions
while facing complex ethical issues (Spencer, 2017). The objective of this paper is to
evaluate the case of ‘Apple v FBI’ in order to identify the ethical issues presented in this case
and identify the key stakeholders who were affected. Ethical theories including
Utilitarianism, Kantian ethics and Ethical relativism will be used to analyse the issue, and
different options will be identified to solve the dilemma. Lastly, a decision will be proposed
for resolution, and the consequences of the decision that leads to ethical conflicts will be
identified in this paper.
The key ethical issue which is raised in this case is that Apple denied helping FBI in the
investigation for decrypting an iPhone 5C that belong to one of the shooters in the 2015 San
Bernardino shooting. Apple publically refused to comply with the Federal order by providing
that it is against its policies for the protection of private data of customers and the company
puts this data outside its own reach (Kharpal, 2016). Many people criticised this decision of
Apple by providing that they are putting profits over safety and they wanted to make more
money by showing that their products are secured. It was argued that they should join the
government and FBI to fight against attacks such as the 2015 San Bernardino shooting by
using their resources rather than focusing on the privacy of shooters who are responsible
for these incidents in the first place.
The key stakeholders who were affected in this scenario include Apple, FBI and the public.
Although the action of Apple was supported by technology companies such as Yahoo! and
Facebook; however, many customers were against its decision as well which adversely
affected its profitability (Tibken, 2017). This refusal makes it challenging for FBI to complete
its investigation and found necessary evidence which is required to avoid similar incidents in
the future. The public was divided between this decision since many supported the decision
of Apple which prioritised the data privacy policies and others criticised its decision of
prioritising profits above the lives of innocent people. Thus, these stakeholders were
affected in the given case.