Around 20 security experts have united with Securepairs.org to support right-to-repair legislation with expert witnesses at hearings across the US
TWO YEARS AGO, as Nebraska was considering a “right to repair” bill designed to make it easier for consumers to fix their own gadgets, an Apple lobbyist made a frightening prediction.
Context & Ripple Effects
When Nebraska's right-to-repair bill surfaced in 2017, Apple's opposition rested on a security argument — that opening up repairs would expose consumers to risk. Securepairs.org is the counter-move: roughly two dozen security experts organizing as witnesses so that hearings hear from practitioners rather than only from manufacturer lobbyists.
First-order effects
- State legislators weighing repair bills now have independent expert testimony on the security question, directly challenging the claim Apple used against the Nebraska bill and similar measures across other states.
Second-order effects
- Manufacturers' lobbying apparatus — documented when Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon worked against bills that had already been voted down or dismissed in half of 27 states — now has to rebut credentialed security professionals instead of arguing unopposed.
Third-order effects
- If the security objection loses credibility at hearings, the movement's focus shifts past basic repair access toward harder targets like unsustainable designs and software locks — the agenda visible once Apple endorsed California's Right to Repair Act.
The trend: Right-to-repair is moving from a consumer-cost fight into a legitimacy contest over the security argument, with organized expert testimony eroding manufacturers' core talking point.