Google CEO Sundar Pichai backs Tim Cook over Apple-FBI controversy

Google CEO Sundar Pichai just weighed in on the ongoing issue over device encryption between Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). And he did it not on Google+, but on Twitter.

Here is his five-tweet comment:

1/5 Important post by @tim_cook. Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users’ privacy

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016

2/5 We know that law enforcement and intelligence agencies face significant challenges in protecting the public against crime and terrorism

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016

3/5 We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016

4/5 But that’s wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data. Could be a troubling precedent

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016

5/5 Looking forward to a thoughtful and open discussion on this important issue

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) February 17, 2016

It took more than 12 hours for Google to address the issue, but Pichai has now — albeit with far fewer words than Apple CEO Tim Cook, who published a letter on the Apple website.

Pichai’s comment doesn’t suggest any big action on the part of Google, which, of course, maintains the Android operating system that competes with Apple’s iOS. But it does suggest that Google is more closely aligned with Apple than with the FBI in this case.