The FBI’s request that Apple create a backdoor to the San Bernardino shooter’s locked iPhone is eerily reminiscent of the 2013 Edward Snowden case.
According to BBC, in 2013, Edward Snowden, a former computer professional for the CIA, copied and leaked thousands of classified documents from the NSA to several journalists from The Guardian and The Washington Post. The documents revealed that the CIA was illegally tapping U.S. citizens’ phones to gain information that would help with criminal investigations.
While officials charged Snowden with violating the Espionage Act and theft of government property, many felt that Snowden’s actions made him a hero because, ultimately, the CIA was violating their privacy. In a survey done by newsweek.com, 55 percent of responders felt that Snowden did the right thing in exposing the mass data mining program.
But, if people felt that the NSA violated their right to privacy by tapping their phones, what makes some people think that a backdoor is a positive thing? Apparently, FBI agents are sipping on the naïveté juice.
Although the FBI’s intentions are good, a backdoor can create a massive threat to privacy because it is impossible to create only one backdoor specific to one iPhone. If Apple creates some sort of backdoor to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s phone in this investigation, then that backdoor can potentially be used to unlock other phones. If the wrong individual learns how to bypass Apple’s security features, he or she would be able to unlock any and every Apple device.
Furthermore, to the FBI, this is just about one phone and one case, but, to Apple, this is about the software of all 74.5 million iPhones that Apple sells every single year, according to USA Today. If Apple were to choose to circumvent its own security software for this particular phone, it puts every Apple user’s computer and mobile device at risk.
Apple’s resistance to breaking into one of its products doesn’t mean that the company is intentionally being unlawful. Instead, all it says is that the company values the security and protection of our customers.
According to politico.com, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said, “I have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them. We can find no precedent for an American company being forced to expose its customers to a greater risk of attack.”
Still, even after the New York Federal court ruled that it would not force Apple to comply with the requests of the FBI, the U.S. Department of Justice is still lobbying to have the decision reversed. But the fact remains that Apple has cooperated to the best of its abilities, which is what any company should strive to do. A company isn’t supposed to jeopardize their business or the safety of their customers.
And no one wants to feel as if his or her private information could possibly be placed on display for others to see. Even though solving the case is important, once again, privacy comes first. Besides, closing one case is not worth putting everyone else in jeopardy. The FBI has to think about all the other Apple users who will be at risk and then ask themselves if this one case is really worth it.
Photo credit: pixabay.com
