If that is the argument, does it matter whether it is Apple or Google who is holding the physical data? Apple and Google are both based in the US and beholden to the US government, so from the government's perspective it's just a change of address when they send out a warrant.
It doesn't. I'm not sure why you think I think there's a difference. Any corporation that stores our data long-term is a threat to our privacy and our rights.
> does it matter whether it is Apple or Google who is holding the physical data?
It might matter, yes. A company run by a guy like Eric Schmidt is a lot more likely to play nice with the US government when it comes to privacy compared to a company run by a guy like Cook, who from the outside seems obsessed with user-privacy (as long as China isn't directly involved).
Of course, just wanted to say that not two big US companies are the same, it highly depends on who leads them. The powers that be that decided that a guy like Schmidt was fit to run a company like Google could do that again.
