As you’re probably aware by now, China is not the biggest fan of Microsoft and has accused the company of anti-monopoly activities and also to a certain extent, spying. Well it looks like Russia too has fears about spying, although not necessarily from Microsoft. According to a report from Reuters, it seems that the Russian government is asking that Apple and SAP turn over their source code for inspection.
According to the Russian government, they claim that the proposal for the source code of both companies is to ensure the rights of consumers and corporate users are protected in terms of privacy of personal data, as well as to ensure state security. It seems highly unlikely that either Apple or SAP will be turning their source codes over.
After all, the source codes to their software is the bread and butter of their business activities, and if it somehow got leaked in the process of inspection, well safe to say that will be extremely disastrous.
In a statement made by Russia’s Communications Minister, Nikolai Nikiforov, “Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013 and U.S. intelligence services’ public statements about the strengthening of surveillance of Russia in 2014 have raised a serious question of trust in foreign software and hardware.” What do you guys think? Any chance of Apple or SAP turning over their source code to the Russian government anytime soon?