In February 2016, Apple released a letter to its customers, detailing that they would
not comply with a request by the United States government to create a security backdoor for
the iPhone.
Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, argued that such a tool would undermine privacy, and could
be exploited by hackers.
On the other hand, the FBI says that it needs a security backdoor to access the San Bernardino
terrorist’s phone, which is an argument implicitly tied to national security.
This battle is an example of a long standing debate between the values of safety versus
privacy.
So, is increased national security worth the privacy cost?
Well, technically, some form of privacy is referenced in the US Constitution.
The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from “unreasonable searches”.
But what is and isn’t considered reasonable has come under fire.
In many cases, attempts at increasing security come at the loss of certain civil liberties.
Body scanners in US airports trade the privacy of keeping someone else from seeing your body,
for the knowledge that fellow passengers, too, are being screened, and are unlikely
to be carrying something dangerous.
Similarly, the predominant argument for the NSA’s mass surveillance has been that it
has kept Americans safe.
And, that those who have nothing to hide should have nothing to fear.
In the age of the internet, this debate has reached new heights, as people keep massive
amounts of personal information online and on their electronics, increasing their vulnerability
to outside access.
Nonetheless, in late 2015, a Pew poll found that more than half of Americans thought these
anti-terror policies had not gone far enough.
This is compared to 28% who thought the policies had gone too far in restricting civil liberties.
So, if a majority of Americans want to extend these policies, do they actually work?
In theory, yes.
Trading a small amount of privacy for security can be effective.
A metal detector takes away your privacy to conceal metal objects, but the trade off is
that it thwarts others from having guns, bombs, and knives.
In practice, however, privacy concessions like this don’t always have an obvious benefit.
For example, the Transportation Security Administration has gotten a lot of attention for implementing
body scanners, physical pat-downs, and unlockable luggage.
Yet, the US’s Inspector General testified in 2015 that the TSA was riddled with major
security failures; in some cases missing entire layers of security altogether.
During internal testing, guns and bombs easily slipped through the system, suggesting that
it would not be very difficult for a terrorist to do the same.
Despite the loss of privacy, the security received in return has shown to be woefully
ineffective.
On top of that, security measures themselves can be exploited, further lessening our privacy
and security.
Removing encryption or allowing unauthorized access into electronics has already had unintended
consequences.
The 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act forced telephone companies
to build wiretapping capabilities into their equipment for law enforcement use.
But in 2005, it was discovered that hackers had been using those wiretapping capabilities
for more than a year to spy on the Greek government.
Greece had been using American manufactured phone systems, which were made vulnerable
by the 1994 Act.
When addressing Apple’s concerns, it’s clear that historically, national security
measures have often undermined privacy, and even led to exploitation themselves.
So the question of whether safety from terrorism is “worth” giving up certain civil liberties
remains incredibly contentious.
Ad To do more episodes like this, we rely on
our sponsors.
This episode is brought to you by Squarespace.
They’ll help you build a website even if you’ve never done it before!
When you sign up for a year, they’ll give you a domain name for free.
And if you type in TestTube at checkout, you’ll get an extra 10% off.
Squarespace…
you should.
Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world, and by opposing the FBI, they’re
showing just how much influence they’ve got.
So, how powerful is Apple?
Check out this video to find out!
Thanks for watching Test Tube News, don’t forget to like and subscribe for new videos
every day!