Recently Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, announced that he would not yield to the U.S. government’s plan to collect data from Iphones. This decision has been met with the ire of people like Newt Gingrich.
Gingrich said that Apple should help to “defeat known terrorist.” I wonder if Gingrich even realized what kind of precedent he is setting for us.
This idea that “if you’ve done nothing wrong, then you’ve got nothing to hide” is just misguided and above all dangerous. So then, what is the issue with letting the government go through our personal phone calls, emails, text messages and cellphones. The answer is really quite simple.
We respect the constitution and think that our government should be held to a its standard.
This is the fourth amendment from the Constitution.
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
I know it sounds like a simple concept, but with all the blatant actions against our constitution you would think that most of our politicians have never read it. From the recent disregard for Obama’s right to nominate a SCOTUS judge to a candidate in the tea party who claims that the separation of church and state doesn’t exist, we seem to have an issue when it comes to our representatives knowledge of the legal document that serves as a framework for our government.
Let’s get back on track though.
What Apple is doing here is taking a stand for our rights, and I applaud them and I think you should to. Our Constitution shouldn’t be interpreted as it was back in 1789 but be a living document for us all. This should include our new form of papers: digital data.
Should you have to worry about every time you send a message there might be a chance for someone working for the government to see it? I don’t think you should have to worry and if you agree then I would suggest you go and support Apple in their plea to the government.
