A private victory for public freedom

Home Opinion A private victory for public freedom

Apple, Inc. refused to comply with a federal court order to develop software that would circumvent central security features on the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking encrypted data from a single phone, but the software would make future iPhones vulnerable.

This means a private company has upheld the rights of its customers by defying a branch of the institution that ought to be protecting those rights.

Installing a “back door” in iPhones will only make it easier for those with ill intent to hack citizens’ private data. Many say it has become a battle of privacy and security.

Prominent conservatives are emphasizing the need for security. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) accused Apple of protecting “a dead terrorist’s privacy over the security of the American people.” Presidential hopeful Donald Trump called for a boycott until Apple “gave the security for that phone.”

But Bruce Schneier, a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, said this is a question of “security versus security.”

“Saying that all of these devices must be insecure so the FBI can have access would be a security disaster for us as a society,” Schneier told the Wall Street Journal.

On Feb. 16, Apple CEO Tim Cook published a letter to his customers explaining Apple’s position. He calls the implications of the FBI’s demands “chilling.”

“The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge,” Cook wrote.

Conservatives insisting that Apple surrender the passcode are betraying their own principles: We affirm the right to protect one’s own property, and the right to privacy follows. Crises do not justify greater imposition on citizens’ basic rights and liberties.

As Ben Franklin said, “Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”