Apple is currently involved in a heated legal battle with the FBI. The FBI want access to an iPhone, but Apple refused to unlock the phone over concerns that bypassing their own security measures would set a dangerous precedent for information security. Some big names have stepped into the ring, with people like John McAffee offering to hack the iPhone and the White house saying that the request doesn’t amount to a “backdoor”. The next big name to step into the arena is Bill Gates, taking the side of the FBI, not Apple.
In an interview with the financial times, Gates stated that one of the reasons he’s supporting the FBI is because “this is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case”.
This doesn’t mean it’s clear-cut support, with Gates continuing by saying “I hope that we have that debate so that the safeguards are built”. So while Gates believes that Apple should help the FBI in this case, there should be clear-cut rules on when the government can gain access to information and at who can say the information should be accessed.
There are clear cut rules. It’s called the Constitution. They have a warrant you let them in. Phones aren’t exempt.
But if you create a way to let somebody in once, it’ll work for everybody, again and again and again. There’s no such thing as a “particular case”.
I just don’t get where a phone should have any exemption to a warrant. I also don’t believe for a second that a data mining company like Apple cares at all about our privacy. It’s all about protecting their brand. “So secure that even the FBI can’t crack it.” Great selling feature, isn’t it? I think it’s borderline treasonous to protect these terrorists like this.