By Andrew Mason, Staff Reporter.
Apple CEO, Tim Cook, recently released an open letter to the public stating the company was asked by the FBI to create a software that would unlock the work phone of one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terrorist attack that left 14 people dead.
In the letter, Cook says that Apple would not create this software because it would put billions of Apple customers at risk. “The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks,” writes Cook in the open letter.
The software the FBI is asking for basically works as a backdoor to the iPhone. It gets rid of all of the iPhone’s security features, and makes it easier to gain access to all of the phone’s files.
Cook believes this software would “undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.” Many people are arguing that the Apple CEO is protecting a killer, but they fail to see what he’s saying.
Other than the fact that Apple is refusing to create this bad software for the FBI, the company is cooperating diligently with everything else the FBI has asked. Some of the smartest minds work at Apple, and if they believe this software could be used in such a negative way, then we should probably be worried about it.
Think back to all of the documents Edward Snowden release about government spying. Why are we not worried that this ultimately gives up more freedoms than what’s already been infringed upon? The last thing anyone should want is all of their files being accessible to the FBI at any given moment.
We need digital security. With a lot of our world revolving around our phones, so much of our highly held personal information is stored in them, and we need to be protective of our information.
It is crucial that the FBI gets the information they want out of this phone, but there’s got to be another way that doesn’t put millions of people globally at risk. If this software can really be used as Apple says it can, then in no way is creating this backdoor worth it.