FBI vs Apple
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Created: Tuesday, 23 February 2016 14:41
I know that I am a bit late to the party offering an opinion on Apple's response to the FBI. Before I give my views, I want to first say that I believe in law and order. Laws allow us to live in a civil society, and the enforcement of those laws allow everyone to live peacefully. With most things in life, there needs to be some sort of checks and balances. The government has the judicial, legislative, and executive branches. By design, no branch has more power than the other to create a check and balance system. Collectively, citizens of this country have the ability to create the same checks on the government.
There is the opinion by many people that this issue with Apple and the FBI is because of unlocking a phone. This is not about simply unlocking a phone. This is about Apple creating a backdoor in their software so that the government can unlock phones as necessary. To put this situation in perspective, people place locks on the doors of their homes to provide security to their home. When people buy any type of lock, there is an expectation that they are the only ones that are able to open the newly purchased lock with the supplied keys. How would you feel if you realized that the lock manufacturer intentionally created a way for the lock you purchased to be bypassed? If you search Youtube, you will find dozens of "How-To's" on opening up all types of locks without a key. Many of these methods use simple items like a Coke can or dental pick to break open a lock within a minute.
It has been mentioned that Apple has willingly assisted the government over 70 times in the past with requests to unlock a phone. If this request was as simple as unlocking a phone, I am sure Apple would comply for a 71st time. The request that the FBI made is a bit different. Most modern smartphones will automatically erase after so many failed attempts. Some phone will allow you to define how my failed attempts it will take until a phone is automatically erased. The FBI wants an a method created so that they are able to get into the iPhone of the San Bernadino terrorist, without the phone automatically erasing after failed attempts. The FBI is also asking for an automated method for getting into the iPhone as well. Apple's position is that this technology does not currently exist, and creating this technology is a bad idea.
I have non-technical people as the question as to why is this a bad idea? All the FBI wants to do is unlock one phone, so that they can hopefully find information that will keep this country safe, right? My opinion is that this is not that simple and can be looked at in many different ways. If you believe Apple's position that this technology does not currently exist, then Apple would have to create this new technology. If this technology is created, what is stopping criminal hackers from getting a hold of this technology and using it against all iPhones? There is a lot of information on the web on how to hack into just about everything you can think of. There has also been several data breaches with government organizations, so it is not like the governments security can not be defeated. If Apple were to create something like the tools that the FBI wants, what's stopping it from getting into the wrong hands?
If you are one that believes that the government should do what they feel is necessary to keep us safe, I would say that you have too much faith. Everyone has something that they want to keep private, no matter how big or small it is. There is a history of government entities misusing their authority to promote their own agenda. Have you ever heard of the Tuskegee Experiment, where African American's were unknowingly injected with syphilis to study its effects? What about the Eugenics Movement, where the government decided who was able to reproduce and sterilized those that were deemed unfit to reproduce? I don't say these things as a conspiracy theorist, but to put things in perspective. Any organization given too much power has the potential to misuse it. Once Apple creates this technology, what is stopping the FBI from using this against non-terrorists? Edward Snowden has proven that the government does spy on its citizens.
Also, how would this impact Apple's sales? Would you buy a product from a company that held your personal data insecurely? What trend with this create for other device or software manufacturers?
