The reclusive NSA whistleblower Tweets out his views regarding the latest development in this high-profile privacy case.
In what appears to be the end of what was a long and arduous battle between the FBI and Apple, the US Justice Department revealed on Monday that it had succeeded in unlocking the iPhone used by one of the San Bernadino shooter, thereby withdrawing the ongoing case.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden soon Tweeted a reminder of the government arguing that their unlocking the iPhone was impossible.
Over the past month, this case brought to the limelight the aspect of encryption and personal data security, where the FBI was gunning for Apple to make available the source code of their iOS operating system along with the encryption keys which would together enable them to access the San Bernardino phone’s potentially telling contents without the device’s failsafe kicking in and erasing data.
While the FBI initially testified that they could not unlock an iPhone, their recent update states they have been able to do so with the help of an external party that offered an alternate method of gaining access to the phone.
On the one hand, being able to access the contents of a user’s phone--via the manufacturer or (as in this case) via external means--implies a loss of privacy to phone owners everywhere. On the other hand, being unable to access data from phones used by criminals could impede investigations and the process of justice, as is the case with numerous similar cases that involve seized phones that are locked via OS passwords.
Snowden even put out a tongue-in-cheek message regarding the ongoing privacy around iPhone and its operating system.
While the FBI/Apple case now stands closed, the entire privacy debate is far from over--much is still to be played out as viewpoints are argued and consensus is reached, which will be fair to all parties involved.
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