Apple Criticized After Refusing to Hack San Bernadino Shooter’s iPhone

February 18, 2016 at 2:11 pm By

The world we live in today has become less private thanks to advances in technology. If you want to see where someone went on their honeymoon look no further than their Instagram page. People even post their personal thoughts on Facebook. Now, the little privacy that users do have thanks to the multiple encryption services offered might be in jeopardy and Apple is coming under fire for trying to protect it.

“The family of a British soldier murdered by Islamic extremists has criticised Apple’s refusal to abide by a court order to hack into an iPhone linked to December’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California,” according to CNET.

In an open letter to Apple customers, Tim Cook stated that creating a backdoor into any users device for the government could be a setback in online/mobile privacy. He also stated that it could be opening the door for even more of an invasion of privacy by the government by using some of the features on your iPhone.

“The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data,” said Cook in his letter.

“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.”

For the particular matter at hand the solution seems simple to someone who doesn’t understand the complexities of breaking an encryption. Why not just hack into the terrorists phones and leave everyone else alone? Well, there is no guarantee that you would or would not be tracked.

“While we believe the FBI’s intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a backdoor into our products,” Cook continued.

“And ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.”

What would Steve Jobs do?

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