Apple’s battle with the FBI drew headlines all across the world this year, however, the bout is nothing new. The company has been fighting the government since 2008. While their recent efforts to protect privacy are certainly honorable, the Cupertino company hasn’t always been so rebellious.
APPLE UNLOCKED IPHONE IN 2008
It’s been almost ten years since Apple first helped the FBI access a customer’s iPhone, yet the incident has been all but forgotten. People seem to think the issue with data privacy is a conflict of modern times, but it’s been going on behind the scenes for years. One example of this dates back to 2008. In New York, a couple was under investigation for possession of child pornography. In addition, they allegedly drugged and raped three of their children. Suffice to say, they were not model citizens. After bing arrested in 2008, their iPhone was confiscated. Not only did Apple comply with the FBI by unlocking the discovered phone, but they helped draft the court orders as well. From there, the relationship between Cupertino and Washington only grew stronger.
CUPERTINO HELPED FBI ACCESS 70 DEVICES
Since that case in 2008, Apple has helped the FBI access more than seventy unique handsets. The cozy relationship hit a speedbump with the advent of iOS 8. Apple introduced encryption by default with the release of that OS and cracking iPhones became something of a challenge. As we now know, to crack an iPhone today, Cupertino would have to create a whole new OS, which is what they failed to do for the FBI with the San Bernardino shooter’s phone. The Feds were then forced to do the work themselves using a third-party tool that exclusively cracks iPhone 5c running iOS9. The matter brings up an issue regarding privacy and when it’s appropriate to violate it.
IS IT EVER OK TO VIOLATE PRIVACY?
Obviously, people like the San Berardino shooter and child pornographers are not good people but do they have a right to privacy? It’s one thing if the government wanted to access the information of every citizen, innocent or guilty. However, it seems that they just want access in order to prevent crimes like these from happening. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes access to such a power wouldn’t necessarily help stop crime. Also, if we allow the privacy of criminals to be violated, it opens up the huge risk of someone using it against the innocent as well. It’s a touchy subject indeed which certainly explains all the controversy it has created.
