You have probably heard about this case, but for those that haven’t: the FBI have ordered Apple to create a version of iOS that would allow the FBI to access a terrorists smartphone in hopes of finding some valuable clues to the case and possible links to other terrorists. What they affectively want is for Apple to compromise their own security “for this one case” and then “un-compromise” it again. Let that sink in.

The debate over encryption is a long one, and as John Oliver points out in his Last Week Tonight episode (video below), the government has long wanted to be able to access our information in order to protect us, or so they claim. Not to sound completely biased here, I believe the that the government of any state should do everything in its power to protect their citizens from harm. However that should not come at the expense of the citizens privacy, ala 1984 or V for Vendetta.

The people in the FBI firmly believe that it is possible to create a ‘backdoor’ that would be ‘safe’ in the hands of the government. The US government, who’s data got breached multiple times by international hackers. The US government that got its classified documents leaked from the inside… twice… I don’t know about you, but I personally would not want the US government to safe keep a key that could allow people to break into my devices.

There is a fine line between protection of the population and privacy invasion. And it seams that some countries would rather lean more on the former then the later.

And one more thing, they fail to realise that even if they succeed in this particular case, they can not outlaw all methods of encryption, they can not prevent people form communicating privately and securely. This is beyond them.

Lets see how this case plays out, because its outcome will set a precedent for the future of security and privacy.