I am currently typing on a MacBook and texting on my iPhone. Within those two devices contains almost everything you possibly need to know about me: my photos, music, conversations, notes, ideas, financial statements, calendar, and even a GPS that includes my common destinations.
On February 16, the Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc., Tim Cook, wrote a letter to the customers to inform them of some new policies. If you are among the majority of people who own an Apple product, I highly suggest you continue reading.
According to the statement, the government has demanded that Apple create a backdoor for all iPhones in use. How would they do this? A new version of iOs would be formed that includes important security features and, according to Cook, "Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control." We are living in a society that has found loopholes to the Constitution.
The statement does point out that Apple had prior affiliations with the government in relation to releasing information regarding the shootings in San Bernardino last December. This is one case that releasing information did help to find the criminals responsible. But you have to agree that the government is taking this a little too far...Whatever the intentions of the government are in relation to this letter, it is still not going to stop violence and terrorism.They just need to feel like they are in complete control.
After reading through this statement, I admit that one of my first reactions was, "So what?" Nothing in my phone contains any top secret plans that the FBI would want or anything even remotely close to that. But, when I thought about it a bit more, I came to the realization that the use of technology has been abused to make sure that all privacy is destroyed. We are a country built off of trust, leadership, and integrity. None of these things are shown in the actions from our government. Instead, we they masking our positive qualities with those of fear, disloyal officials, and cowardly companies. This statement shows that we are failing as a country in many more ways than what has surfaced.
I give props to Apple for taking it upon themselves to provide us with this information, but it saddens me that we have no control over the matter at hand. Although technology has led to extensive developments in many different fields, we need to come to the realization that we cannot control everyone. Unfortunate events will still occur even with the billions of documents of information that the FBI wants from its citizens.
So tell me, then, what is the point of all of this? Is there something else they are trying to accomplish with all our information? Will this extend past Apple and into other smartphone territories? And, most importantly, what happens when someone hacks into the government's system and is able to view anyones' information in the country? I am frightened to see a day where I have to worry about things such as this, but we must face the facts; the government is stripping us of all our freedom of personal information and security. What are you going to do to stop them?
