Doubtless you’ve heard over the last week about Apple’s conflict with the FBI: the FBI wants Apple to help it break in to the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, and Apple is refusing on the grounds that such technology could end up in criminals’ hands and endanger the security of millions of iPhone customers.
It’s the kind of privacy vs. security argument that has arisen over and over again since the internet, and now smartphones, have given law enforcement a whole new realm in which to seek and gather evidence.
The arguments on both sides can be compelling. In general, the tech industry argues that building in “backdoors” that would allow law enforcement to access encrypted information on cell phones, laptops, or tablets would also allow hackers to access that data, endangering the privacy of consumers everywhere.
Law enforcement, on the other hand, argues that this kind of data can be extremely important in helping to crack a case or further an investigation.
While many people have been and continue to be sympathetic to both sides of this argument, this case of the San Bernardino shooting seems to be drawing out stronger emotions than usual.
For one thing, this was the worst mass shooting in America in three years, as well as the deadliest attack on American soil to have been inspired by the Islamic State.
For another, the FBI is requesting a very specific type of access to a single, specific phone - they want to be able to break the passcode to the shooter’s iPhone to access the data inside, using a computer that can make millions of guesses very quickly, according to The Daily Beast. Since the iPhone renders information inside inaccessible after a certain number of incorrect tries, the FBI needs Apple’s help if they’re going to get in.
Considering these points - as well as the fact that Apple has complied with law enforcement requests to provide information or assistance 70 times in the past for previous versions of their iOS operating system - we at KOVA believe that Apple should comply with the FBI’s request.
On Feb. 16, a federal judge in California ordered Apple to assist the FBI in circumventing the passcode. Apple has denied to give that assistance, with CEO Tim Cook being very vocal about why. He echoes the same argument that has been made multiple times: that doing so would build that backdoor into iPhone data that any hacker could then use to compromise consumers’ security.
As of Feb. 23, tech industry leaders have come out in support of Apple, with one notable exception: Bill Gates.
The Microsoft founder and philanthropist has said that Apple should comply with the FBI’s request, telling The Financial Times “This is a specific case where the government is asking Apple for information. They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case.”
Whether or not Gates’s comments will have any sway over the outcome of the case remains to be seen.
On Sun. Feb. 21, FBI director James Comey wrote an opinion piece in the national security publication Lawfare about why the FBI is fighting Apple over this issue. “We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist's passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly. That's it,” the article says.
It continues, “We don't want to break anyone's encryption or set a master key loose on the land. I hope thoughtful people will take the time to understand that.”
Many news outlets, including The Daily Beast, have commented on Comey’s decision to take his argument to the court of public opinion, saying it raises the stakes of this already high-stakes legal battle.
As for which side is winning in that fickle courtroom, it seems that the government may be slightly ahead. According to a Pew Research Center survey that was conducted between Feb. 18 and 21, 51 percent of respondents believed that Apple should assist the FBI.
Among iPhone users, that number is slightly lower, with 47 percent of respondents saying that Apple should comply.
As a company that takes both cybersecurity and public safety extremely seriously, KOVA will be closely watching as this case develops. In this instance, we feel that more weight must be given to public safety, and that doing so will not create security issues for the millions of law-abiding people who store their data on iPhones.
