For the past few weeks the media and iPhone/ iPad users alike have been demanding to know the truth- whether or not Apple tracks consumers’ locations. Even the Federal Government has gotten involved; Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) chair of the privacy panel went so far as to personally send a letter to Steve Jobs inquiring about the controversy.
This past Wednesday Jobs and two executives sat down with the New York Times to discuss the phenomenon and dispel the myths:
“We haven’t been tracking anybody,” Mr. Jobs said in an interview on Wednesday. “Never have. Never will.”
When asked about Apples’ public relations response:
Mr. Jobs defended the timing of Apple’s response to the controversy, saying that “rather than run to the P.R. department,” it set out to determine exactly what happened.
“The first thing we always do when a problem is brought to us is we try to isolate it and find out if it is real,” he said. “It took us about a week to do an investigation and write a response, which is fairly quick for something this technically complicated.”
He added, “Scott and Phil and myself were all involved in writing the response because we think it is that important.”
Being an avid Apple user (I own a Macbook Pro, iPhone, and iPod) and a relatively new public relations practioner, I was honestly a little shocked by Apple’s lack of response. I can understand its need to hold an investigation into the issue but to not say anything publicly for weeks is unacceptable. The first thing I learned in the crisis management section of PR101 is that when you are facing a media crisis one MUST SAY SOMETHING.
Apple did not have to dispel the rumors right off the bat but at least acknowledge that the people are concerned and let them know that Apple is “working on it”.
On the other hand, I must admit that when Apple did finally speak up, it did so remarkably well. The company provided the public with a complete question & answer document addressing most of the concerns. Along with making contentions that they messed up.
Overall Apple handled the publicity fiasco well, just a tad bit on the late side.
By: Jaclyn Larkin
@jlarkinpr
