Act Now: Stop Apple's iPhone Kill Switch
Think you own your smartphone? Think again.
Apple wants to patent a kill switch technology that can detect when people are using their phone cameras and give corporations the power to shut them down.1
Think that's bad? Imagine what would happen if this tool fell into the hands of repressive regimes. Thousands of people across the Middle East have used cellphone cameras to document government abuses.
This kind of technology would give tyrants the power to stem the flow of videos and crack down on protesters with impunity.
Apple says this new technology was designed to stop concertgoers from taking unofficial video at live events. But you can bet that governments and corporations will use it in other, more dangerous ways -- to silence the voices of protesters, political opponents or anyone else they dislike.
As Steve Jobs obviously knows, smartphones have become extensions of ourselves. They are incredibly powerful tools for communication, education, political expression, community organizing and just plain fun.
Earlier this year, researchers discovered that iPhones recorded your every move for the past year in a hidden but unprotected file.2 The public was outraged, and Apple soon announced that it was updating its software to better protect users.
We must stop Apple again. This new camera-blocking technology is a pre-emptive strike against free speech. If activated, it would be immensely harmful to our rights to connect and communicate.
Please take action now to urge Steve Jobs to pull the plug on this censorship technology.
Thanks,
Josh Levy
Online Campaign Manager
Free Press
www.freepress.net
1. "Is Apple Launching a Pre-emptive Strike Against Free Speech?" Huffington Post, June 22, 2011: http://act2.freepress.net/go/4692?akid=2596.8913265.Bo0UVu&t=7
2. "Got an iPhone or 3G iPad? Apple is recording your moves," O'Reilly Radar, April 20, 2011:http://act2.freepress.net/go/4627?akid=2596.8913265.Bo0UVu&t=9
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