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Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 25, 2016 at 2:00 AM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 25, 2016 at 2:00 AM » Social News In a classic standoff between national security and personal privacy, the FBI has demanded that Apple unlock one of its iPhones, the one owned by a now-dead terrorist involved in the attack in San Bernardino that killed 14. Apple refuses, in spite of a court order. Both the feds and Apple have huge interests at stake. So do 825 million people worldwide, for whom the iPhone has become part of their nervous system, as well as a massive file holding scads of texts, pics, emails, links, bank passwords, phone numbers — everything that wants to be secure and private. But these same iPhone users also want to be secure against terrorism, so it would be nice if investigators could hack iPhones of the bad guys, but not my iPhone. Apple says that’s a bad idea — and once they decrypt one iPhone for the Feds, how do they refuse the next request and the next? What if Feds want to go on a fishing expedition in hundreds of iPhones? If Apple creates a “back door” for the Feds, how can they be sure it won’t get in the wrong hands? The Fourth Amendment says “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizure, shall not be violated … but on probable cause … particularly describing the place … persons or things to be seized.” We see, in the Constitution, that our privacy right is conditional, if there’s good cause to believe the person was involved in a crime. We also try to respect privacy and human rights. To a point. However, other countries (China is Apple’s second biggest market) have much less respect for such rights. We don’t want to hand them a back door. The iPhone has become an externalized brain that contains most of our secrets and there it is in our pocket or purse or car, where anyone can grab it. But can they open it? Very hard. As the FBI will tell you. In the digital age, we have become very transparent. Hackers, whether teen cyber-wizards or federal agents can eventually find out anything they want, so the urban myth goes. Since our iPhones contain all our info, even our location on certain days, it is automatically self-incriminating, which brings up the Fifth Amendment ban on being a witness against yourself. What if you are in jail and the prosecutor demands your password? Is that self-incrimination? We assume our iPhones could be invaded, like everything else these days. It’s surprising — and comforting — to find out they can’t. Do we want to give up this right? Do we want to obstruct investigators from cracking terrorist cells? Tough call. We asked Ashlanders what they thought. Susan Grace — No. I’m with Apple. We have rights of privacy in this country. If I did something illegal, there are many other ways to find that out. We didn’t used to have iPhones. The FBI can go back to investigating instead. My iPhone is part of the global mind now. We are so transparent now. It’s freaky to me. The information is on a two-way street. We can’t hide things now. It’s BS, them getting in my phone. It’s a breach of my rights. I say no. Cleo Capo — It’s not resolved in court and not resolved in me either. It’s a terrible conflict. We do want to find details of terrorist contacts and yet I wish we could open a specific phone. It’s a terrible prospect that phones would be compromised forever. I’m very conflicted. I would love to be protected from terrorists who can attack schools, sporting events, concerts, plays, yet I feel strongly about privacy. Maybe it’s worth it to be able to deal with terrorists. I have nothing to hide so I’m OK, yet it’s the idea of being invaded I don’t like. Mary McInerney — There’s no privacy anymore. Anyone can get into anything. They can do it with an iPhone. Since when does big business run our anti-terrorist program? Apple has a vault and they can put (the decryptor) in it, so it’s not out in the world. Eventually, someone will open the phone. Kenneth Swinford — The FBI, if it really wanted to open that phone, could get it done. This thing is a charade. Apple is posing as the only one who could open it. Do you think they’re the only one who could? Probably, there’s a kid in Russia who could do it with his eyes closed. It looks to me like the FBI is trying to get more trust from the people and Apple is trying to show how secure they are. Bree Perkins — If Apple releases that information, then the FBI would have a way to target anyone they choose and would have the right to all their personal information. The FBI could say anyone is a terrorist and get to their iPhone. My own distrust of the government and my own conspiracy theories are at play here. I don’t trust the government to accurately pinpoint who is a terrorist. They could jail you for just about anything they find in there. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Feb. 25, 2016 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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