&gt; <i>Alright, but now you trust that person.</i><p>In a word: no. With open source code, you could use software authored by the NSA, like SELinux, or you could even hire a manifestly untrustworthy party like Hacking Team to author some code and still be able to trust the code.<p>In Apple&#x27;s case, there is a fairly good reason to trust Apple because it would be a hell of a kabuki theatre production to have the FBI and Apple battle in a Supreme Court case while colluding in secret. But would you trust a defense contractor? A telco? Limit or ideally eliminate the need for trust. Fortunately it is possible to reduce the need for trust below having to trust groups or individuals.