Security and privacy debates are highly nuanced, allowing for much interpretation, balancing acts and differences of opinion. For that reason, I try and be tolerant of a wide range of views on the subject. Every so often, though, some executive says something so divorced from logic and reality that silence is not an option. Enter AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson and his attack on Apple’s encryption efforts.

Far be it from me to suggest that AT&T is really the last company on the planet that should be wading onto a public debate on privacy issues. As The Verge observed: “Documents leaked by Edward Snowden portray the relationship between AT&T and the government as rather cozy. AT&T is credited as being ‘highly collaborative’ and has installed far more surveillance equipment than its fellow U.S. wireless carriers. The government has paid AT&T millions of dollars in return.”

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