I’m With Apple

By finding a way to unlock this phone for the US government, Apple will be on-the-hook to do it again. They will have demonstrated their capability. The next government asking might not have such noble purposes.

iphone6-select-2014_GEO_USWhat a tough position for Apple. Their latest iPhone operating system is locked down so well it’s considered impossible to crack. The FBI wants Apple to redesign the operating system to read what’s on the San Bernardino killers’ iPhone.

This is not a full-on assault of the Fourth Amendment. The FBI has made clear they only want into this one phone. And yet it’s very troubling.

The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks — from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable. Tim Cook, Apple

By finding a way to unlock this phone for the US government, Apple will be on-the-hook to do it again. They will have demonstrated their capability. The next government asking might not have such noble purposes.

Of course it would be great to have access to what these terrorists did. However, it goes deeper than this one case.

I believe we are all entitled to some level of privacy. As technology gets better who knows what future G-men will want to ‘read’.

I hope Apple prevails… and pays all the US taxes it nicely dodges.

5 thoughts on “I’m With Apple”

  1. I’m not keen on the idea either, but it is possible to get a warrant to search computers, premises, etc. Why is this any different? There is a legitimate, compelling reason to investigate the contents of a known, acknowledged terrorist’s electronic device. It was passed by the scrutiny of a judge (or more than one), and should have the same weight as a legally obtained search warrant.
    I want to know what Apple is hiding. If it’s trying to protect it’s corporate A$$, that is not a noble end at all. And having Google hop on the bus makes me even more leery. I worked for Goggle; they are not nice people.
    This bears more scrutiny. I can’t wait to see where it goes.

    1. The difference is government is specifically telling Apple to build something that doesn’t currently exist, to violate the legitimate promise they made to their users. Encryption is legal. Apple sold an encrypted system to protect you around-the-world. If Apple builds this, it will show the phone has been broken and Apple knows how to break it. Which government will be next asking?

      I hope the FBI/NSA is able to crack it using their superhuman tools no mortal could afford.

    2. Hi Steve — Everyone, including the government, believes Apple has no current way to get into this phone. The government is ordering Apple to build something that doesn’t exist, against their will.

  2. I disagree. This is a matter of national security. The lives of Americans mean more than this. Let the FBI deliver the phone to Apple. Have Apple retrieve the information, and have them keep the new unlock program in a vault somewhere. This is a no-brainer in light of the 14 people killed in San Bernadino just two months ago.

  3. This idea that we can weaken security in a way that helps law enforcement but doesn’t leave devices or systems vulnerable to attack by others is nonsense.

    Want to make the country more secure? Have the government demand *better* security for private electronic devices, for bank records, for systems that control power plants – in short, for anything vulnerable to being fiddled with by people who do not wish us well. And do it now. Don’t wait for power grids to fail, or for money to start disappearing from bank accounts.

    It would be very nice if, for a change, we could close the barn door on these vulnerabilities *before* the horse escapes.

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