Apple's official letter of response to the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce this month was designed to alleviate congressional fears about the company invading its customers' privacy. But a close reading of the letter does the opposite, pointing out the many ways sensitive data is retained even when the consumer says no. And that retained data is only one crafty cyberthief away from getting out.

The problem with the letter is that it assumes that technology always works perfectly and that security safeguards are never overcome by attackers — or even nosey, technically astute romantic partners. Such thinking, that we live in a state of nirvana, is the one of the biggest privacy and security problems today, with vendors routinely — and unrealistically and arrogantly — assuming that they have anticipated and negated all security holes.

To read this article in full, please click here