WikiLeaks: Apple gives customers' data to governments

The ongoing WikiLeaks data dump continues, all without proof of life of Julian Assange after the Ecuadorian embassy had its internet line severed - new information has surfaced on Apple and just how much it cares for its consumers' privacy.

In a purported leaked email from December 2015, Lisa Jackson, Apple's VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives sent an email to John Podesta, the Chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign - Lisa said: "Please know that Apple will continue its work with law enforcement. We share law enforcement's concerns about the threat to citizens and we work closely with authorities to comply with legal requests for data that have helped solve complex crimes".

But it was the next paragraph that was highlighted by WikiLeaks, and for good reason: "Thousands of times every month, we give governments information about Apple customers and devices, in response to warrants and other forms of legal process. We have a team that responds to those requests 24 hours a day. Strong encryption does not eliminate Apple's ability to give law enforcement meta-data or any of a number of other very useful categories of data".

The Full Email From WikiLeaks

There are a few points here, so let's break it down:

• Apple gives governments (plural) information about their own consumers and their devices
• The encryption in iPhones and iPads means nothing to Apple
• Apple says their devices are safe with encryption but it "does not eliminate" their ability to grab the meta-data anyway
• Apple planned to "amplify encryption messaging" to the public

Jackson also noted Hillary Clinton's stance on encryption and the technology sector, with the Apple VP adding that the leadership at Apple "certainly noticed and I am sure that is true though out the Valley".

All I could think of when I read the email header was: