Privacy Rights | Teen Ink

Privacy Rights

May 22, 2017
By Anonymous

In recent months the US government has been looking for a way to hack into one of the highest used technology companies in the world. The government has been searching and trying to get into an Apple iphone that was recently used by a terrorist that has been caught. This has became a huge issue with many people in this country because Apple has refused to release the software that is capable of getting the iphone to unlock. Apple believes that everyone has rights to privacy and that they as a company have the right to keep the users of Apple products safe along with all of their data "Sacrificing one for the other only puts people and countries at greater risk” (Apple Inc.). Even though the government controls a lot and has the power to make many different decisions they should not be able to have access to everybody’s information, although it might be able to catch a slim number of criminals it could do more harm than good.

The US government wants Apple Inc. to release a hacking software that will give them access to the San Bernardino shooters iphone. This will help them figure out who this terrorist was talking to and what they were talking about. This leaves millions at risk, so many people in the United States alone own these apple devices. Studies in the USA Today CNBC’s survey shows that more than fifty five million homes have at least one kind of Apple product. If this “backdoor” was created and or released from Apple it could possibly leave the consumers of Apple Electronics at risk to lose their personal information to cyber hackers that can then have access to anything that is on their device. Apple says that no matter who this hacking program is used for it is not safe and is not a good answer for the government to find out who the terrorist is talking to and or the contents of this Apple product. This is why Apple should not give the United States Government or anyone a way to break into the Apple device because it could lead to many other privacy issues if that backdoor is leaked to the wrong people.

The government is questioning why Apple won’t give them the abilities to get into this iPhone but the software needed to do this is capable to get into any Apple device. Apple does not want to put their billions of customers at risk of personal data loss. In this instance the government found a third party that was able to find a backdoor into the iPhone. The government still has to hold a meeting with the president's national security council to decide whether they should tell Apple about this method. This could help protect themselves and everyone else from having their personal devices hacked so that someone else has access to them. Apple did not want to give this software out to help with this case because then it would force them to help with cases in the United States and abroad. ”Apple disclosed that there were nine other cases in which the Justice Department has asked for its help unlocking phones” (Goel). Apple does not want to have to help with every single one of these cases and give out the process which enables not just one person the ability to do this but many people could have this process.


Recently Apple posted a letter to their customers stating “ This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake” (Apple Inc.). This message to the users of Apple products has the full reasoning behind them not sharing the encryption with the government. The reason they did not was because they realize along with everyone else. That today in the twenty first century that the majority of people not only in the United States but around the world have some kind of interaction with technology on a daily basis. This is due to the major uprising in all sorts of technology and when using these devices for personal things such as text messages, e-mail, phone calls etc. One as a person has the right of privacy. At least in the United States there are amendments that every person must abide by.  No matter how high up the person is everyone has constitutional right to privacy as stated in the fourth amendment. So why would Apple create or share these processes with anyone knowing it can put many persons at risk of going against constitutional rights?

The government after being denied the answer to the problem by Apple they then found a third party that had a process to successfully break into this specific iphone. Nobody is sure if this process would work for any other device but as Apple states “We will continue to increase the security of our products as the threats and attacks on our data become more frequent and more sophisticated”(Cook).  The government asked for way too much of the company and while doing this they could have opened a whole new set of problems because this causes hundreds of thousands of people to start trying to find their own ways to get into a locked phone which means that Apple has to find all of these different ways and “patch” them so that they cannot be used. The government has caused millions of people the potential of their private devices being hacked into and personal things in the open for hackers. This is why Apple should not help the government with this terrorist attack.

All of these reason all go back to why the government should not have access to these processes without Apple removing the data from this phone themselves. This court case would have never helped the government. The constitutional rights that each American Citizen has cannot be messed with in any way. Technology will always have a loophole somehow, some way somebody will have access to our personal devices without the owner having any knowledge. This in the end can do one of two things. Help stop the people who are needed to be stopped or it will result in a completely unreliable system that anyone has access to. This is why the government should not have these capabilities that go against the Constitutional law.



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