Using the FAIR test, evaluate Tim Cook’s open letter to customers

(published as “A Message to Our Customers” on February 16, 2016, on the Apple website: www.apple.com/customer-letter/). Address each aspect of the FAIR test:

(a) facts (how factual was the communication?);

(b) access (how accessible or transparent were the motives, reasoning, and information?);

(c) impacts (how did the communication impact stakeholders?);

(d) respect (how respectful was the communication?).

See Figure 1.4 for more information about the FAIR test.

Consider using other sources to help you evaluate Cook’s letter.

You can find a variety of online information. Some online articles you might consider include the following:

● Examples of various views of Apple’s position: “Apple v.

Washington over Encryption” in The New York Times, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/19/opinion/apple-vswashington-

over-encryption.html?_r=0

● The view of an editorial board: “Why Apple Is Right to Challenge an Order to Help the F.B.I.” by The New York Times Editorial Board, The New York Times, available at www.nytimes.

com/2016/02/19/opinion/why-apple-is-right-to-challenge-an-orderto-

help-the-fbi.html

● The international complications of the issue: “While It Defies U.S. Government, Apple Abides by China’s Orders—and Reaps Big Rewards” by David Pierson in the Los Angeles Times, available at http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fiapple-

china-20160226-story.html

● Public opinion polls: “More Support for Justice Department Than for Apple in Dispute over Unlocking iPhone,” by the Pew Research Center, available at www.people-press.org/2016/02/22/

more-support-for-justice-department-than-for-apple-in-disputeover-

unlocking-iphone/

● The views of other tech companies: “Bill Gates Says Apple-FBI Fight Is Not Black and White,” by Charles Riley in CNNMoney, available at money.cnn.com/2016/02/23/technology/bill-gatesapple-

fbi-encryption/

● The Apple approach to privacy: “The Most Personal Technology Must Also Be the Most Private,” available at http://www.apple.

com/privacy/approach-to-privacy/

● A public relations perspective of Apple’s actions: “The Optics of Apple’s Encryption Fight,” by Kaveh Wadell in The Atlantic

(online), available at http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/

archive/2016/02/why-apple-is-fighting-the-fbi/463260/

● Reactions by victims of the terrorism: “Anger, Praise, for Apple for Rebuffing FBI over San Bernardino’s Killer’s Phone” by Greg Botelho, Lorenza Brascia, and Michael Martinez on the CNN website, available at http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/us/

san-bernardino-shooter-phone-apple-reaction/index.html

Figure 1.4

Transcribed Image Text:

Are Your Communications FAIR? Facts (How factual is your communication?) Have you presented the facts correctly? Have you presented all the relevant facts? Have you presented any information that would be considered misleading? Have you used the facts in a reasonable manner to arrive at your conclusions and recommendations? Would your audience agree with your reasoning? Access (How accessible or transparent are your motives, reasoning, and information?) Are your motives clear, or will others perceive that you have a hidden agenda? Have you fully disclosed how you obtained the information and used it to make your case? Are you hiding any of the information or real reasons for making certain claims or recommendations? Have you given stakeholders the opportunity to provide input in the decision- making process? Impacts (How does your communication impact stakeholders?) Have you considered how your communication impacts all stakeholders? Have you thought about how your communication will help or even hurt others? How could you learn more about these impacts? Respect (How respectful is your communication?) Have you prepared your communication to recognize the inherent dignity and self-worth of others? Would those with whom you are communicating consider your communication respectful? Would a neutral observer consider your communication respectful?