I don't look at it as an attack. I look at it as government overreach and intrusiveness. A senate committee shouldn't proactively reach out to anybody unless they have a very specific need based on complaints from citizens or something else that is a clear concise issue that requires an investigation at the highest levels of government. Yes, I remember Watergate -- they didn't proactively investigate. There was a burglary and then a suspected cover-up, which was why there was an investigation and that makes sense. That's not what happened here. And Apple isn't the presidency.
Otherwise, it seems very heavy-handed, like something the Kremlin or some dictatorship would do. That's not what our government is (or should be) about. The last thing you want is anyone from the gov't bothering you or knocking on your door. If you did something wrong -- yes. Otherwise the gov't should leave us alone. But to start looking for things to do? -- that's not their job. We have plenty of privacy laws on the books -- Biometric data is already covered in many state laws (and there is no overarching federal privacy law).
I also think you don't realize what happens when a company receives something like that. It's a huge pain in the neck, requiring legal and compliance review and probably will be reviewed by dozens of people. It's not a matter of someone simply spending 45 minutes to draft a response. More than likely they will need to engage outside counsel. It's a big production -- because someone on a committee has "questions"? Don't you realize how scary that is, that someone in Washington DC can simply pose "questions" that you "HAVE" to answer or they will likely use their power against you? I don't know about you, but that's not the U.S. I grew up in. This is now a regulatory crazy environment (and I'm a liberal). Unless you did something wrong, the gov't should NOT be breathing down your neck and asking questions!
