FBI And Apple Reach Cease Fire Over Privacy Concerns


The FBI is dropping their legal suit to compel Apple to assist them in unlocking the iPhone of the San Bernardino attacker.

The Bureau and Justice Department have confirmed that a private third-party firm has enabled them to circumvent the security protocols on the phone without Apple’s intervention, raising questions about Apple’s vaulted security claims. The Authorities have made no statement regarding the value of any information gained from accessing the device.

The case was set to be a precedent-setting one in the ongoing debate between technology companies and the government over the correct balance between user privacy and national security. Representative Darrell Issa (D-CA) made a statement that “the lawsuit may be over, but the Constitutional and privacy questions it raised are not.”

Issa urged the public to remain vigilant and warned that there will be more attempts by the federal government to set anti-privacy precedents:

“There most certainly will be other cases and, as we debate these issues as a nation, we must remain critical of government attempts to take advantage of sensitive situations to amass greater government power and control which are almost always at the expense of our personal freedom and privacy.”

Congressman Issa is right. Technology and privacy advocates can breathe a sigh of relief but only for a moment.

Of course, no one wants to make it more challenging for federal law enforcement authorities to lawfully pursue terrorists and criminals. The issue is that any right to circumvent encryption made available to US authorities would likely be demanded by regimes that are far less friendly to civil and human rights.

Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) argued against mandating “back doors” or weakening encryption for law enforcement or national security purposes: “terrorism succeeds when it gets us to give up our liberties and change our way of life.”

Featured image via Pixabay.