Government should stay out of our iPhones until it has more convincing case
Which is most preferable to you – impenetrable privacy protection for your iPhone, or improving the odds you’ll be protected from the next terrorist attack?
That’s the loaded question FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan and other officials are asking in the wake of the attacks in San Bernardino and Paris.
They’re concerned about the high-tech end-to-end encryption now available in Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime services, as well as the WhatsApp messaging app. Encryption shields users’ communications and data from all third parties, including subpoena-waving police agencies and even the tech firms that make our digital tools.
It’s not entirely clear the terrorists in Paris or California used encryption, but national security officials and political leaders including Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., believe they must have, considering their success at staying under the radar.
They say it’s time for the American public to shake off its Edward Snowden-induced fear of government eavesdropping overreach and recognize that terrorists are using these snoop-proof tools to “go dark” while plotting attacks.
“It’s not a technical issue,” Comey has said, “it’s a business model question.”
In other words, tech firms can give investigators what they need – say, an electronic “back door” police can get through with a court order; or, they can just design their software and apps without end-to-end encryption.
Either way, the clear implication is that firms like Apple are acting against the nation’s best interests. Burr, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he wants the encryption issue studied.
It should be. Given the possibility of homegrown terror cells, we need robust tools to detect and track militants who, like everyone else, increasingly conduct business online.
But it’s not clear we’d be safer without end-to-end encryption. Comey himself has said San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik talked about her support for jihad not via WhatsApp, but in private messages sent to friends on Facebook. Those are not encrypted – at least not on Facebook’s servers.
We all want stronger surveillance of terror suspects. But as Apple CEO Tim Cook said Sunday on “60 Minutes,” it shouldn’t be an either-or proposition – either you get privacy, or you get protection from terrorists. And even if that’s wishful thinking, the FBI and CIA have not made a strong enough case that the security gains will be worth what we’d lose in privacy protections.
They’re basically saying, “Trust us.” That won’t fly in the post-Snowden era. Especially not when they’re missing unencrypted clues on social media.
Apple offers encryption because consumers want it. That won’t change unless Comey and others bring far more persuasive arguments to the table.
This story was originally published December 22, 2015 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Government should stay out of our iPhones until it has more convincing case."