“The No. 2 official at the Justice Department recently warned top Apple executives that stronger encryption protections added to iPhones would lead to a horrific tragedy, such as a child dying, because police couldn’t access a suspect’s device, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday,” Dan Goodin reports for Ars Technica.
“The beefed up protections, Apple recently disclosed, mean that even when company officials are served with a court order, they will be unable to retrieve potentially crucial evidence such as photos, messages, or contacts stored on iPhones and iPads,” Goodin reports. “Instead, the data can be accessed only by people who know the passcode that serves as the encryption key.”
“Prior to changes introduced in iOS 8, Apple had the means to pull data off of a locked phone, and according to the WSJ, the company helped police do just that when it was served with a valid court order. Under the latest iOS version, the data can be recovered only by knowing the passcode. Passcodes that are sufficiently long and complex make it infeasible for Apple or anyone else to crack,” Goodin reports. “US Attorney General Eric Holder recently said it was ‘worrisome’ that tech companies were adding default encryption to consumer electronics. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently pushed back at a WSJ conference, saying ‘”Look, if law enforcement wants something, they should go to the user and get it. It’s not for me to do that.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in September:
Think of The Children™. Whenever you hear that line of horseshit, look for ulterior motives. Fear mongers: Those who use of fear, scare tactics, and emotional appeals in attempts to influence the opinions and actions of others towards some specific end.
United States Constitution, Amendment IV:
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.Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. – Ronald Reagan, March 30, 1961
Visit the Apple-backed reformgovernmentsurveillance.com today.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
“They” say that as if they weren’t already killing kids themselves with their godforsaken policies.
The Department of Justice is killing children? Seriously? Explain.
You can rant about the government for a lot of reasons, but the hyperbole makes you lose credibility.
“The Department of Justice remains most prominent collection of law enforcement agencies”
Law enforcement kills untold number of people without any basis whatsoever. Literally thousands per year, including many children (mainly minorities).
This guy is a lying disgrace. The truth of the matter is that even before Apple has implemented perfect encryption in iOS 8 for local data, it had many months-long queue for agencies (mostly FBI) request to unlock password-protected iOS devices.
So the fate of this theoretical child would not change with Apple’s latest move at all.
What this guy really argues against is any type of protection of personal data in principle.
I think this guy is not lying deliberately, he is just plain stupid. He should be more afraid of ignorance, because it kills a lot more children, even grownups like himself.
OK, would you like to die because of an encrypted iPhone or of ignorance? My answere is encrypted.
All these government fear mongers are more concerned about making their jobs a little easier than they are about citizen rights or freedom.
If law enforcement ever becomes easy it will only be because we became a police state.
“if…police state” ?
OK, I’ll explain. In a misguided effort to generate statistics that would support increased restrictions on the sale of firearms, the DOJ, under Mr. Holder, and the BATF cooperated in a scheme to send illegally bought firearms into Mexico, where they found their way into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels. These firearms were used in the killing of Mexican nationals, including women and children, as well as at least one US Border Patrol agent. Mr. Holder then refused to discuss the DOJ’s role in this fiasco, and president Obama invoked executive privilege in order to prevent the disclosure of documents related to who was aware of the details of this program and when they became aware. Mr. Holder was held in contempt of congress for his refusal to testify about these things. Mr. Holder has announced that he will soon resign and no doubt he be pardoned by the president for any crimes he may have committed while in office.
Gee. I never heard about that. Hmmm…
Read all about it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATF_gunwalking_scandal
Wow thats incredible. The government is determined to throw away every principle of decency in these “wars” on drugs and terror.
That all this costs enormous sums of money, borrowed on credit with the US tax payer as collateral, makes it even worse.
Wait….you’re citing WIKIPEDIA as an authoritative reference site? The so-called encyclopedia that can be edited by ANYONE? Please…..
Doesn’t matter if it was on Wikipedia or not… DO ANY RESEARCH YOURSELF…
Or you know, click the links on the wikipedia page.
here some reading for you
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/10/dojs-fast-furious-prequel-failed-grenade-running-operation/
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/fast-furious-documents-released-112498.html
Wikipedia is just an easy place to get a bunch of links together. Believe what is there or not, but you can’t say the links to actual news sites are all wrong… just cause they are also linked on Wikipedia.
Wouldn’t logic dictate that history told by a group is more comprehensive, less biased, and more accurate than a single account?
Wikipedia does have errors, by and large it is fairly accurate, properly footnoted articles will lead you to facts and truth.
I trust wikipedia more than Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS etc. They get paid to lie to me, wikipedia does not.
I’ll take peer review over editorial agenda every time thanks..
Wikipedia tends to be reasonably accurate with objective topics, such as geography, architecture, engineering …
Once you start wandering afield into politically-charged issues, you’d better look to other sources to verify what’s there. It can be wildly inaccurate in some areas.
I’ve studied the Wide Receiver/Fast & Furious scandal in depth. When I went looking for an article to cite I was looking for one that included a lot of fairly accurate,unbiased information. I couldn’t use FOX or CNN.
Wikipedia simply had the most comprehensive article about this topic. I read it to verify its accuracy and its biases before citing it. Actually, the very first section of this Wiki article whitewashes the situation a bit, but overall, the article is pretty accurate.
Juuuuussssssssst in case: /s
RIGHT ON Zeke!!!
…not quite. Just another example how a big lie, repeated often enough, becomes “truth”
http://fortune.com/2012/06/27/the-truth-about-the-fast-and-furious-scandal/
…a better example of the your government killing children would be the Iraq Ware, the Afghan War, various domestic polices restricting access to medical care, food, and exposure to various toxins, etc
I noted seven complete falsehoods in the first two paragraphs of your cited article. It’s a hit piece for gun control. I repeat, read the Wikipedia article.
Eban worked for the DOJ. Sheryl Atkinson’s extensive reporting is never mentioned in her article. Economist John Lott explains some of Ebans’ article’s discrepancies: http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2012/06/weird-fortune-article-by-katherine-eban.html
Read the wikipedia article, including its citations.
“……a better example of the your government killing children…”
What a shame that we need phrases like that. 🙁
Under the definition of lying propaganda, that Fortune Magazine Article is the prime example.
You are correct, but in truth, there are WAAAAY more deaths we can pin on them. In fact let’s just include the complete cluster-fuck of failed policy known as the war on drugs.
How many orphans has it created?
How many single parent homes has it created?
How many kids drawn to gangs because their dad is in jail for a joint? H
ow many narco-states have we militarized leading to a rise in violence there and an influx of immigrants fleeing the violence?
Yes, the Department of Justice has a lot of blood on it’s corrupt hands. Period. No partisan slant required, it’s been bad since Nixon, getting worse each year.
Exactly…..
http://rt.com/usa/guerena-arizona-swat-settlement-341/
“…but the officers performed that day in accordance with their training and nationally recognized standards,…”
And that’s EXACTLY the problem!
So you are saying let the illegal drug offenders that break the law, ALONE.
Yeah, that will solve the problem. The drug culture will decline. The criminals selling illegal drugs will also decline and open up Coffee shops.
Wake up, please ….
How about no knock raids that throw stun grenades into cribs? In that specific case, the child didn’t die I suppose. The lifelong debilitating injuries aren’t that big of a deal.
“The No. 2 official at the Justice Department recently warned…” Does the No. 2 official not have a name? Is this a new episode of “Get Smart?”
Featuring a KAOS agent …
thank you, 99.
Wrong gender, but get the sentiment.
oops… sorry about that. Chief!
Yes. He’s called “Number 2”.
And he’s working on creating sharks with lasers on their heads.
Let’s ask Austin Powers who Number 2 is… We all know Number 1 is Dr Evil.
Hey, if it’s going save some kid, we should get rid of encryption completely. Imagine the countless lives that will be saved because the police can access anyone’s device immediately!
You’re right. It’s not like the NSA has planes that fly overhead, scanning mobile phone communications, and pinpointing a person’s location. I mean, that would be crazy!
Founding Fathers warn that wanton disregard of ones right to be secure in ones person, papers, effects, etc. will lead to the death of liberty.
And don’t forget, this encryption will harm women and minorities the most…..
What? 3-Star rating for that witty, and relevant comment? I’ll give you a 5-Star. ooo…bumped you up half a star! Woot!
What? 3-Star rating for that witty, and relevant comment? I’ll give you a 5-Star. ooo…bumped you up half a star! Woot!
…and puppies.
what does a phone have to do with child endangerment?
Well, because obviously if the police find the person who has kidnapped a child and has them hidden away in an underground bunker with a limited supply of oxygen, then by accessing their mobile phone the police would be able to locate the precise location where the still alive but very soon to run out of air child is located. Probably because the perp pinned it on Maps just to make sure he didn’t forget where his chosen site was, or made a Contact (Child 3 Burial Site). And since the police could call Apple, have them immediately access the locked iPhone, scan through for all of this critical information, they would be able to rescue the child just as she drew her last breath . . .
Oh wait, that was last week’s Law & Order. My bad. Real life police work takes more than an hour (40 min. with commercials) to complete.
wait, wasn’t it just last week that government agencies were bashing Apple for not making them secure enough and blaming high theft rates on them?
Word to the DoJ;
Release of a new car will lead to a child dying in a traffic accident somewhere. Is that a good reason to ban cars? No
Tell the Cops to put down the doughnut, get out of the Yukon, calm down and wear out some shoe leather- you know, Policing. When you have probable cause go to a judge and get a warrant. Until then, go pound sand.
Getting rid of all the unmarked cars and (re)create a visible presence would probably help to deter a sizable amount of illegal activity.
Exactly. Police have become more and more militarized, with strict procedures that usually involve pointing weapons at someone first, finding out details later.
If police would engage their communities, be known to the public, use common sense and not just be guys who pull you over to give you tickets, then they might avoid a lot of this hatred aimed at them. But policing has become Us vs. Them, and unfortunately we’re all the Them.
The problem is that the Mayberry ideal of “Protect & Serve” is largely a fallacy. Our governments corporate masters tell them what laws to write, and then they go about “enforcing” them. The local and municipal laws are largely instituted for the potential revenue they will bring, all hide behind the specter of fear and the guise of “protecting” us from ourselves.
We the people are guilty until proven otherwise, only if we survive the beating we get for asking a question and “being uncooperative”. If we are lucky the cop doesn’t show up, the judge isn’t having a bad day, he prosecutor is feeling nice and we are well dressed and walk away free.
We have put cops on a pedestal, we refer to them as hero’s, we allow them to police themselves and we give them largely what ever the hell they want, including tanks, drones, machine guns, etc.
We watch endless cop shows on tv to brainwash us into how good they are and make us more compliant. Never mind the fact that their hiring standards are not much more rigorous than any other job. No special skills required, and increasingly they seem to attract PTSD suffering vets and power-hungry sociopaths. They have their own secret societies, their own code of honor and are generally above the law. EVERY SINGLE day I see at LEAST one article about a rapist cop, a dog killing cop, a racist cop, a drunk cop, an accidental weapon discharging cop, and on and on. They have just as many if not more derelicts as any other large employer. It is a problem, and no one in America has the stones to make fixing it a priority, least of all our corrupt Justice Department.
If you believe that, you should protect your family by moving them to someplace that doesn’t have any police. There are several towns in Mexico, Syria, and Somalia where you could feel completely safe.
Every technology properly used has the potential for death. You mention cars, there are a substantial number of deaths due to mobile phone use while driving.
This guy is really self serving.
The Spooks and Cops want to sit on their ass and watch you scratch yours. The fact that Apple encrypts makes thumbed and they are drowning their sorrows over at Dunkin’ Donuts hoping they can scare you out of your civil liberties.
The essential life of this country is security.
I have a quote even more tedious than that one:
Health is merely the slowest way someone can die.
The best in a long time
That’s a low ball! Why is it always fear that we need to fear? How about tracking?isn’t it enough to find a kid? Any real reasons?
Treat ’em like a pet, put a tracking unit behind its ear. 😿
“I’m from the government. I’m here to help.”
More reckless and reprehensible meddling from a Justice Department at its lowest ebb since the Nixon Administration.
What’s next? — What if a poor little child did die? Would Apple excecutives be arrested and prosecuted for murder? Yeah, large courtroom crowds would clap and cheer at that.
Until it’s your child that dies. Not saying apple is wrong just that it will be unfortunate when it happens. One life lost is to many. You’d see it differently if it happened to you personally.
Glenda might, and you might, but I wouldn’t. I would never blame Apple or a kidnapper’s phone for my kid not being found. It is the kidnapper’s fault. 100%. Unless the encryption process causes the circuits to overheat and explode the phone in my child’s hand while he is gassing up the car, I see no way that iPhone encryption would lead to his death. This is absurd.
More lives would be saved if police installed cameras in everybody’s houses. Doesn’t make it a good idea.
Hey, living is dangerous too
Oh Rob!
wow…seems like we are all on the same page for this one!
DOJ: Dept. Of Jerkoffs. Those idiots left out puppies and kittens.
No.
Violating the Constitution will destroy the Republic. Public servants who violate the constitution should be 1. barred from public service, 2. financially liable to those whose rights they violated, and 3. forfeit all benefits and pensions accrued in public service.
Starting with the office holders?!
You know what’s actually leading to children dying? Your shitty healthcare system. Look to that first.
Actually, that’s way over simplified. Here’s the actual data from 2010:
Fifteen Leading Causes of Death for Children 0-10
1. Perinatal conditions
2. Congenital anomalies
3. Motor vehicle
4. Homicide
5. Neoplams
6. SIDS
7. Suicid
8. Circulatory disease
9. Nervous system disease
10. Respiratory disease
11. Suffocation/strangulation
12. Drowning
13. Poisoning
14. Fires
15. Unintentional firearm
Hmm. Encryption doesn’t seem to be on that list. I know it has to be there somewhere. Maybe it was number 16 or so.
This just in: Apple does nothing about people who die of old age while owning iPhones.
Hilarious. Gun related deaths are off the scale in the USA and the DoJ wants to stop phone encryption….
An average of about three violent child deaths per weekend in Chicago. None would be saved by an unencrypted iPhone.
The culture of mass data collection has pervaded all aspects of our government. It sounds to me as if they have forgotten Jefferson’s words, that “goverments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Perhaps Apple’s position is pushback against massive secret government overreach. That’s not Apple’s fault. I like Tim Cook’s stance. If you want something, get a warrant and get it from the suspect.
Stupidity is really unbiased.
Hey, DOJ Official #2 (appropriately named, right?) –
Phone encryption won’t endanger anyone. A person abducting a child might endanger someone. Someone taking a gun into a classroom might endanger someone, but it will have nothing to do with their data being encrypted. (It isn’t the gun’s fault, either!) And my spoon didn’t make me fat – the food I stuff in my face isn’t to blame either – I made me fat with the food I stuffed in my face with my spoon. The encryption of data on my phone certainly isn’t to blame.
Number 2, indeed. Excuse me while I go to the restroom.
“Excuse me while I go to the restroom…”
No. 2?
iPhones threaten lives, guns save lives. ok, got it.
Actually, had just one of the administrators at Sandy Hook been carrying a concealed firearm the story might be quite a bit different. As it was, they confronted the shooter with bare hands and a classroom full of children died.
I wonder how many children were killed each year by abortionists that would have lived if given a little care?
“Abortion…it’s for the children!®”
Actually, I don’t mind if Apple is forced to open up an iPhone WHEN THEY HAVE A COURT ORDERED WARRANT.
The problem was that they not only want to search the phone without a warrant but that they also want to do keep the unwarranted search a complete secret from everyone.
In theory, they have a point: this kind of data should be accessible so that law enforcement can access it when they have a warrant. But in reality, Apple cannot do that, because of known government abuses of citizens’ right to privacy through mass data collection. The reality is, thorough encryption technology is now a requirement to protect people’s basic right to privacy.
The DOJ and everyone else complicit with the expansion of the surveillance state should have thought about this “dying child” before they ripped apart the Fourth Amendment. They have no one but themselves to blame for creating a reality where full data encryption is a necessity.
If they want Apple to ease their encryption standards, the DOJ must first overhaul the government’s information gathering practices, and make it a system with oversights, accountability, in line with in both the letter and spirit of the Fourth Amendment. Only then would it be possible for Apple to ease their encryption standards without putting people’s rights in jeopardy.
Is is just me or is everyone quoting the 4th amendment and only paying attention to the first clause? As MDN quotes “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.]]”.. The second clause is what is being prevented by Apple and now Google by having such secure systems.. Also possibly the core of the argument for misuse of said secure systems/technology with no recourse for legal authorities to attain evidence because the suspect/perpetrator is the only one able to access the device data. Might even be construed as obstruction of justice if you want to spin it that far.
You know, forcefully taking fingerprints has been ruled to be constitutional. Some smart guy should be able to figure out how to take a fingerprint with a material that could then be used to unlock the phone with Touch ID. The bigger problem would be if the phone were only locked with a pass code. You cannot force the person to disclose his pass code. Any suggestions on how to open a phone under those circumstances, assuming they had a warrant?
I still thing it’s a huge stretch to suggest a child might die if law enforcement can’t access phone data, unless they’re out sweeping everyone’s data and looking it over to see if anyone is headed off to do something nefarious, and that seems unlikely.
Oh, what’s that? I forgot. That is exactly what they want to do. Spy on everyone to prevent crime before it happens.Those guys have watched Minority Report too many times.
SCREW THE DOJ!!!!!
I don’t post often but can’t help myself at times. This statement coming from the DOJ that continues to catch and release illegal aliens, some are felons, some are not, only to be caught again after vehicle homicide or flat out murder. The DOJ under Eric Holder have become shameless and have no limits to their own hypocrisy.
well, according to Obola, they’re soon to be citizens.
Enjoy.
Unlock your phone or I’ll shoot this puppy!
yipe, yipe, yipe …
BS! Safety is never a good excuse for lack privacy from the government! BS! Our founding fathers gave clear warning of this.
Why is the story about Apple? If Apple doesn’t encrypt, use a Google encrypted phone, or the third party encryption apps.
“Why is the story about Apple?” — two possible reasons: (1) Other smartphone vendors caved to their demands, and Apple hasn’t; (2) cynical headline-mongering by the Feds is now accepted practice in this sorry excuse for a policy-addled administration.
What’s next?
“DOJ Warns A Dead Battery Will Lead To A Child Dying”
You can rest assured that when someone invokes “save the children” their rationale bucket is empty, or their real reason is publicly untenable.
No. 2 would have a shred of credibility if he could cite a single prior case of a child avoiding certain death because a phone’s encryption (or lack thereof) was able to be cracked.
This ‘Think About The Children!’ misdirection is centuries old. Within the DOJ, it was repeatedly used by Alberto Gonzales during the reign of George Bush II as justification for INjustice. Again: Good luck finding decent citizen representation or respect for the US Constitution from the REDs or the BLUEs. Overthrow and throw out BOTH worthless political parties.
Derek, there are only two ways to overthrow them: armed revolution, or an election upset sweeping a third party into power.
Both are difficult and costly, but both have been done before. And if the toads in Washington continue to foul the swamp, they might indeed croak. — The key is to unmask the demented puppet masters funneling money to PACs and bribe artists to subvert the political system for selfish personal ends.
Obscenely wealthy these hidden masters of affairs may be; but a powerful beam of light will reveal them as repulsive cockroaches feeding on the body politic, and voters will storm the polls!
Difficult or costly: We’d better get busy. Rolling over and playing dead to these crooks and traitors is NOT an option.
Oh for God’s sake, what did the police do before mobile phones?
doughnuts. they talked to their doughnuts.
They developed probable cause, got a warrant, seized the paper documents that proved the defendant’s guilt, and used the evidence to put them away and protect future victims. That is precisely what the Framers intended and why they worded the Fourth Amendment as they did. Does nobody here recognize that the process will not work if there are no readable documents to use as evidence?
Clever child pornographers and serial abusers do not keep paper records or unencrypted computer files. They keep the evidence of their crimes under encryption that it would take the NSA or FDB to break. Local police don’t have those resources, so these criminals will not be convicted, they will continue their crimes, and—yes—children will die.
You may consider that to be an acceptable price to pay for personal privacy. As Ben Franklin said, a lack of security is sometimes justified in the name of liberty. But please understand that there will be a price to pay. Be honest enough to admit that someone will pay that price, even if you are lucky enough not to be one of the affected families.
Please keep your political views to yourself!!!!
DOJ: YOU BASTARDS!
Blame Apple for the sick criminal acts of others. You’re INSANE.
Sorry, you sick BASTARDS, but the rights of We The People COME FIRST ALWAYS. We are NOT giving up our freedoms because you’re all loony about whatever.
Now STFU and follow the US Constitution for a change. THEN figure out your strategies for catching the psychopaths. INFURIATING! It makes me wonder just WHO is more sick: The kiddie molesting murders or the US Constitution molesting murderers. – Oh yes DOJ: Destroying the rights of We The People to have a responsible, sane, representative government has already murdered thousands of citizen’s lives. But you don’t care. To hell with Justice at the DOJ. Am I right?!
(No, I’m not having a mania attack. I’m upset that these enemies of We The People crossed a very blatant and terrible line with this Kill-The-Constitution garbage. It’s beyond TOO MUCH).
BTW: My usual thanks to Dan Goodin at Ars Technica for his article. He’s easily one of the best security writers on the net. It’s good to have him back from his leave of absence.
http://arstechnica.com/author/dan-goodin/
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/11/beefed-up-iphone-crypto-will-lead-to-a-child-dying-doj-warned-apple-execs/
The, um, link to the article doesn’t work.
I think the DoJ needs to have a few words with the NSA about why encryption is suddenly so popular.
If someone’s life is at risk then maybe you should GET A FUCKING WARRANT!
Perhaps if you read the article rather than swearing you would understand that the DOJ official is talking about proper Fourth Amendment searches. You know, probable cause, impartial magistrate, written warrant specifically describing the place to be searched and things to be seized, and all that. The issue is that even with a warrant, there is no way for law enforcement to get useful data from a securely encrypted device.
Hence, there are going to be serious crimes—some of which will cost human lives—that will go unprosecuted for want of evidence. There are going to be life or death situations where “getting an f’ng warrant” will be useless and very bad things are going to happen.
You may believe, as most posters here obviously do, that protecting the privacy of accused criminals is more important than protecting their victims. It is your right to believe that, but it is not your right to swear at people for views that they simply do not hold. The DOJ argument is for providing some mechanism to allow lawful searches with a “f’ng warrant” to yield the results that the Fourth Amendment contemplates.
Oh, well if Holder is saying that then Apple should open the OS up ASAP!
NOT!!!!!!!
It’s just breathtaking how stupid the Department of Justice believes we, the people, are when it comes to knowing when they are just flat lying to us… They have, at their disposal, ALL the technologies to crack most anything tech companies throw at them – and more. What they are whining about in this program is a staged, intentional pitch of ‘woaa is me’…. What a crock.. They are simply lying thru their teeth..
Maybe the DOJ does, although I think you are underestimating the amount of computing power needed to crack decent encryption. I suspect that even the NSA can’t crack these cypher quickly. However, most crimes are investigated by local or state agencies that certainly do not have those resources.
By the logic of the DOJ, I am curious to hear about what we should do to prevent child deaths as far as choking hazards and chemical cleaners which are probably much more dangerous and critical to preventing deaths than the occasional criminal with an “unhackable” iOS 8+ device.
This stuff is serious.
If the FBI can’t tune in remotely to everyone’s hearing aids, watch microphones and shower cams then hearing challenged, fashion conscious, clean freak kidnappers will be free to kill all the children they want.
Is that the kind of neighborhood you want?
On a more serious note, we need to stop encryption from killing kids. Please tell your congressman to vote “No” when it comes to encrypting our children.
I hope your children never get molested by someone who escaped prosecution because all the nasty pictures of his last dozen victims were on his encrypted device. I don’t see any of the posters here offering up their own children’s security in exchange for a predator’s liberty.
There’s always away to take a predators liberty … It’s called “water-boarding”. You don’t even need one of them fancy computers either.
Executing a search warrant issued in compliance with the Fourth Amendment is hardly the same as coercing confessions in violation of the Fifth. You strict constructionists need to actually read the Constitution.
I’m sure Tim Cook already ran the numbers and it came in at less than “a” child. He’s good with numbers and stuff.
He ran the numbers quite a while ago, way before the DOJ played this last-ditch “child” card:—growing public alarm at out-of-hand government surveillance has turned privacy into a major selling point for Apple. Strong profit motive trumps public shame every time.
Official fear-mongering won’t work anyway, coming from the mouths of the very people spying on us. With most off what they tell us, they are showing us how stupid they think we are.
Yes, it’s very profitable for Apple to not have to deal with legal orders to decrypt data on the devices they sell anymore.
The more the public outcry about government intrusion into citizens’ private lives, the better privacy branded products will sell. Is that more clear?
Not denying that.. Just pointing out that all the human and financial resources that Apple has been expending on replying to such device data access requests is no longer in Apple’s hands thus no expenditure in that area anymore and no longer reduces profits.
I just read the fascinating article by Charles Bowden, “Blood on the corn”, about the kidnap, torture, and murder of a young DEA agent in Mexico in 1984 — al with the implication of the CIA (and with NSA-style surveillance of drug traffickers’ bank accounts worldwide). Who guards the guards? DOJ’s concerns about saving the life of “a child” ring hollow.
Government protecting kids? Just look at child protective services and see how many kids are dead because of them.
I am not aware of CPS killing any children. Children sometimes die because CPS failed to act or because they weren’t called until it was too late, but that is hardly a justification for attacking an agency that demonstrably saves a lot of lives every year.
“But think of the children!” has become the real world equivalent of Godwin’s Law–the last bastion of those without any real argument for whatever they’re advocating.