{"id":828,"date":"2016-03-07T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T08:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/?p=828"},"modified":"2024-12-23T07:47:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T07:47:07","slug":"no-room-for-compromise-in-apple-vs-fbi-iphone-encryption-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/no-room-for-compromise-in-apple-vs-fbi-iphone-encryption-battle-828\/","title":{"rendered":"No room for compromise in Apple vs FBI iPhone encryption battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"No<\/a><\/p>\n

As Apple\u2019s legal battle with the FBI over encryption heads toward a showdown, there appears little hope for a compromise that would placate both sides and avert a divisive court decision.<\/p>\n

The FBI is pressing Apple to develop a system that would allow the law enforcement agency to break into a locked iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers, a demand the tech company claims would make all its devices vulnerable.<\/p>\n

In an effort to break the deadlock, some US lawmakers are pushing for a panel of experts to study the issue of access to encrypted devices for law enforcement in order to find common ground.<\/p>\n

Senator Mark Warner and Representative Mike McCaul on Monday proposed the creation of a 16-member \u201cNational Commission on Security and Technology Challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

But digital rights activists warn that the issue provides little middle ground \u2014 that once law enforcement gains a \u201cback door,\u201d there would be no way to close it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are concerned that the commission may focus on short-sighted solutions involving mandated or compelled back doors,\u201d said Joseph Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy & Technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake no mistake, there can be no compromise on back doors. Strong encryption makes anyone who has a cell phone or who uses the Internet far more secure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin Bankston of the New America Foundation\u2019s Open Technology Institute expressed similar concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already had a wide range of blue ribbon expert panels consider the issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd all have concluded either that surveillance back doors are a dangerously bad idea, that law enforcement\u2019s concerns about \u2018going dark\u2019 are overblown, or both.\u201d<\/p>\n

The debate had been simmering for years before the Apple-FBI row.<\/p>\n

Last year, a panel led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists warned against \u201cspecial access\u201d for law enforcement, saying they pose \u201cgrave security risks\u201d and \u201cimperil innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening up all data<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure there is much room for compromise from a technical perspective,\u201d said Stephen Wicker, a Cornell University professor of computer engineering who specializes in mobile computing security.<\/p>\n

Opening the door to the FBI effectively makes any data on any mobile device available to the government, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is data that was not available anywhere 10 years ago, it\u2019s a function of the smartphone,\u201d Wicker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe as a country have to ask if we want to say that anything outside our personal human memory should be available to the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apple has indicated it is ready for a \u201cconversation\u201d with law enforcement on the matter.<\/p>\n

But FBI Director James Comey told a congressional panel that some answers are needed because \u201cthere are times when law enforcement saves our lives, rescues our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the rights envisioned by the framers of the US constitution, he said, \u201cI also doubt that they imagined there would be any place in American life where law enforcement, with lawful authority, could not go.\u201d<\/p>\n

A brief filed on behalf of law enforcement associations argued that because of Apple\u2019s new encryption, criminals \u201chave now switched to the new iPhones as the device of choice for their criminal wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ed Black, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which includes major technology firms but not Apple, said that although tech firms and law enforcement have had many battles, \u201cthere are many areas where we cooperate and where we find middle ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Black said the tech sector is largely united in this case because the FBI wants Apple to create weaker software or introduce \u201cmalware\u201d to be able to crack the locked iPhone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn this narrow specific issue of \u2018can companies be compelled to create malware,\u2019 I think there may not be an answer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Going dark\u2019 fears<\/strong><\/p>\n

Law enforcement fears about \u201cgoing dark\u201d in the face of new technology have been largely exaggerated, Black said.<\/p>\n

While access to encrypted apps and smartphones is difficult and traditional wiretaps don\u2019t work on new technology, \u201cthere are a lot of other tools for law enforcement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is more information available in 2016 than in any year since the founding of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although law enforcement has growing expectations about using technology to thwart criminals, that type of power is too broad, Black added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they are seeking a level of total surveillance capability, I don\u2019t see a compromise available,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Wicker said that to give law enforcement access, Congress could in theory mandate that devices use automatic cloud backups that could not be disabled. But that would constitute a dramatic departure from current views about privacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom an individual rights standpoint,\u201d he said, \u201cthat would take away control by the user of their personal information.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Apple\u2019s legal battle with the FBI over encryption heads toward a showdown, there appears little hope for a compromise that would placate both sides and avert a divisive court decision. The FBI is pressing Apple to develop a system that would allow the law enforcement agency to break into a locked iPhone used by … Continue reading No room for compromise in Apple vs FBI iPhone encryption battle<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[60,88,332],"class_list":["post-828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-apple","tag-fbi","tag-iphone-encryption"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":830,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions\/830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dogoodsoft.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}