During Thursday night’s MSNBC Town Hall in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were asked whose side where they on in the FBI’s attempt to get Apple to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers.
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In characteristic fashion, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey used the service itself to lend support to Apple CEO Tim Cook, tweeting “We stand with @tim_cook and Apple (and thank him for his leadership)”. Apple and others have argued that US government agencies would not be the only ones who could pass through a back door – eventually, people’s electronic data would be vulnerable to snooping or hacking by foreign governments, identity thieves and others.
The government wants access to info on the phone, which is now locked.
We condemn terrorism and have total solidarity with victims of terror.
A Facebook spokesperson told Mashable, “When we receive lawful requests from these authorities we comply”.
Facebook, too, is offering support, saying it would “continue to fight aggressively against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems”.
“These demands would create a chilly precedent and obstruct companies’ efforts to secure their products”, the spokesperson added.
If the ability to bypass or disable certain security features is accessed in the United States, what’s to stop other nations from creating similar methods of “brute force?”
The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. Apple thinks that providing that access sends the company and its privacy standards down a slippery slope.
Amnesty International also applauded Cook’s stance, while among his many critics is Conservative pundit Ann Coulter who suggested that Apple made the move “for PR” purposes.
The FBI is looking to find out if the shooters were working with a terrorist organization, but the question is being raised by Apple as to whether or not this could become a slippery slope for personal privacy and what companies can do with that privacy. In a letter to customers – CEO Tim Cook called the judge’s order a “dangerous precedent” and that developing the software would create a backdoor that “could be used over and over again, on any number of devices” should it end up in the wrong hands. The judge originally gave the company five days to respond in court, meaning the answer was due by Tuesday of next week.
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Apple is willing to challenge the government all the way to the Supreme Court, according to CBS News, citing unnamed sources.
