Following an upset the FBI experienced when trying to access data on an iPhone who’s owner was the San Bernardino shooter, Rosenstein, the US Deputy Attorney General, wants to make a major change. Claiming that tech companies are providing customers with levels of encryption this advanced is making the government’s job incredibly difficult.
Rosenstein is basing his claims on his belief that device encryption of the current strength is too much and that users’ constitutional right to privacy doesn’t apply. He has continued to berate tech companies like Apple for offering this type of technology to their customers.
Apple understands where he is coming from because of the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone incident but they also had a rebuttal of their own. Apple is claiming that if they were to weaken the encryption available on their iPhones it would do much more harm than good. Weakening device encryption would open the door for cyber crime and other forms of hacking to take place on their customers’ devices.
Apple is standing their ground on this and they will go to great lengths to ensure they protect their customers and their valuable data. So, it would seem that both sides of this debate have their points and they seem to be very good ones. Ironically, both Apple and Rosenstein are basing their claims on the need to uphold and protect public safety.
Rosenstein has suggested that Apple, as well as other high level encryption offering tech companies, should offer a way for people to share their encryption keys with them. This suggestion may not bode well with the public but we’ll have to wait and see what turns out. No one would be surprised if the situation eventually makes it’s way to court. If that ends up being the case, we can sit back and watch the chaos that unravels.
