FEBRUARY 17, 2016, BY JAY DOW, UPDATED AT 07:03AM, FEBRUARY 18, 2016
CALIFORNIA — If we take a step back and look at the legal battle between Apple and the FBI, and Apple’s unwillingness to provide back door access to a single terrorist’s iPhone 5c, it could have implications for anyone sitting at home holding an iPhone.
In the interest of furthering its investigation into the San Bernardino terror shooting — and toward the greater interest of protecting the public — the U.S. Government has requested Apple’s technical assistance to, “Bypass or disable the auto-erase function whether or not it has been enabled.”
Simply put, the FBI would not have to worry about the iPhone’s permanent lock function if you incorrectly input the code 10 times.
But tech analyst Raj Goel told PIX11 News that the prospect of being able to expose your deepest, darkest secrets inside your own phone cuts both ways.
“The real challenge here, is if Apple caves in — or does want the FBI’s requesting, then what stops China, or Russia, or Brazil, or India from asking them to do same thing for their users,” Goel said.
Imagine if Ben Affleck’s character in the thriller “Gone Girl” hired a tech company, and it somehow got its hands on the backdoor key technology the government is asking Apple to create and allowed him to crack his character’s scheming wife’s cell phone?
That information surely would have saved him a lot of trouble.
CEO Tim Cook said in a message to customers that Apple will fight this in court.
“Customers expect Apple and other technology companies to do everything in our power to protect their personal information, and at Apple we are deeply committed to safeguarding their data,” Cook wrote on Apple’s website.
Divorce attorney Deborah Blum said on the flip side, that kind of unfettered access, if placed in the wrong hands, is just as scary for local, low level, criminal or matrimonial cases.
“We’re at a place where nothing is private anymore. Who is going to have access to this technology? And how is going to be used,” Blum said.
