By Rio Duran
Our country was founded on the premise that everyone would have personal freedoms that a harsh government couldn’t take away, and until recent history this virtue has stayed intact.
However, when people are scared and hurt they will do whatever it takes to feel safe again. By taking advantage of this fear, laws like the patriot act can be created and nobody thinks twice about the freedom that they are losing. There is a constant war between freedom and safety, and the current battle is between Apple and the FBI.
After the events of the San Bernardino shooting, authorities have found one of the gunner’s iPhone. They wanted to get into it to see if they could find anything relating to another attack. The problem is that the phone is password protected, and after ten failed attempts the phone will be wiped and all of the possible evidence will be erased.
Due to this hiccup in the investigation the courts have ordered Apple to give them a backdoor to bypass the security and get into the phone. The only problem is that Apple says no such backdoor exists, and they refuse to make it. They say that making a program that can bypass the security of a phone would leave millions of people vulnerable and in the hands of the government could allow them to get into any iPhone. With the power to get into any iPhone, they could have access to someone’s personal life, banking systems, and other personal effects that no one should have but you.
The FBI claims that they would only use it for this one case, but this isn’t necessarily true. This isn’t the first time Apple has been asked to do something like this. In fact, there have been over 100 cases of the authorities having to get into an iPhone and asking for a back door.
If Apple were to create a backdoor for the one phone, chances are that it would be used in all of these cases. And after that, who knows what they could use it on? Such a threat would be a big hit to our freedom as well as to Apple as a company. If they made their phones able to be hacked into without the user knowing, then the company would most likely fall because no one would buy Apple products.
The government continues to hassle Apple, stating that it’s a matter of national security and that they might be able to prevent future terrorist attacks, and if there is more evidence on that phone then they would be right. But even if Apple was willing to give them such a powerful program, there is one major obstacle, it doesn’t even exist. They haven’t made something like this because it would be too dangerous. To make this now would take months if not longer. The simple fact is that the FBI is ordering Apple to give them something that doesn’t and most likely will never exist.
At the end of the day it all comes down to safety vs. freedom. How much freedom will we give up to feel safe at night? It seems like Apple is choosing freedom over safety. The courts have also chosen this saying that ordering Apple to create a back door is fruitless effort on the FBI’s part. Despite this decision, the government will continue to fight to get this back door, so there is still a chance that Apple might break down and make the back door, but in the meantime you can rest easily knowing your iPhone is secure.
