Apple, Tim Cook, and encryption were discussed during Republican Debate in Charleston. Via TIME’s transcript:
CAVUTO: Governor Bush, fears have gripped this country obviously, and you touched on it earlier since the San Bernardino attacks. Since our last , the national conversation has changed, according to Facebook data as well.
Now this first graphic shows the issues that were most talked about right before those attacks and now after: the issues of Islam, homeland security and ISIS now loom very large. The FBI says Islamic radicals are using social media to communicate and that it needs better access to communication. Now the CEO of Apple, Governor, Tim Cook said unless served with a warrant private communication is private, period. Do you agree, or would you try to convince him otherwise?
BUSH: I would try to convince him otherwise, but this last back and forth between two senators — back bench senators, you know, explains why we have the mess in Washington, D.C. We need a president that will fix our immigration laws and stick with it, not bend with the wind.
The simple fact is one of the ways, Maria, to solve the problem you described is narrow the number of people coming by family petitioning to what every other country has so that we have the best and the brightest that come to our country. We need to control the border, we need to do all of this in a comprehensive way, not just going back and forth and talking about stuff —
CAVUTO: Would you answer this question?
BUSH: Oh, I’ll talk about that, too. But you haven’t asked me a question in a while, Neil, so I thought I’d get that off my chest if you don’t mind.
(LAUGHTER)
CAVUTO: Fair enough. So Tim Cook — so Tim Cook says he’s going to keep it private.
BUSH: I got that. And the problem today is there’s no confidence in Washington, D.C. There needs to be more than one meeting, there needs to complete dialogue with the large technology companies. They understand that there’s a national security risk. We ought to give them a little bit of a liability release so that they share data amongst themselves and share data with the federal government, they’re not fearful of a lawsuit.
We need to make sure that we keep the country safe. This is the first priority. The cybersecurity challenges that we face, this administration failed us completely, completely. Not just the hacking of OPM, but that is — that is just shameful. 23 million files in the hands of the Chinese? So it’s not just the government — the private sector companies, it’s also our own government that needs to raise the level of our game.
We should put the NSA in charge of the civilian side of this as well. That expertise needs to spread all across the government and there needs to be much more cooperation with our private sector.
CAVUTO: But if Tim cook is telling you no, Mr. President.
BUSH: You’ve got to keep asking. You’ve got to keep asking because this is a hugely important issue. If you can encrypt messages, ISIS can, over these platforms, and we have no ability to have a cooperative relationship —
CAVUTO: Do you ask or do you order?
BUSH: Well, if the law would change, yeah. But I think there has to be recognition that if we — if we are too punitive, then you’ll go to other — other technology companies outside the United States. And what we want to do is to control this.
We also want to dominate this from a commercial side. So there’s a lot of balanced interests. But the president leads in this regard. That’s what we need. We need leadership, someone who has a backbone and sticks with things, rather than just talks about them as though anything matters when you’re talking about amendments that don’t even actually are part of a bill that ever passed.
CAVUTO: Governor, thank you.
TIME’s full transcript of the Sixth Republican Debate in Charleston here.
MacDailyNews Take: You cannot have both. You either have privacy via full encryption or you don’t by forcing back doors upon Apple and the companies that follow Apple around like brain-damaged puppy dogs. The answer to this question is binary; it’s all or nothing.
There have been people that suggest that we should have a back door. But the reality is if you put a back door in, that back door’s for everybody, for good guys and bad guys. — Apple CEO Tim Cook
Strong encryption without back doors or U.S. companies’ tech products will be eschewed around the world.
Adhere to the U.S. Constitution.
Visit the Apple-backed reformgovernmentsurveillance.com today.
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Tim Cook opposes government back door to encryption – December 21, 2015
Donald Trump: To stop ISIS recruiting, maybe we should be talking to Bill Gates about ‘closing that Internet up in some way’ – December 21, 2015
Hillary Clinton: We need to put Silicon Valley tech firms to ‘work at disrupting ISIS’ – December 7, 2015
Tim Cook attacks Google, U.S. federal government over right to privacy abuses – June 3, 2015
Apple CEO Tim Cook advocates privacy, says terrorists should be ‘eliminated’ – February 27, 2015
Apple’s iPhone encryption is a godsend, even if government snoops and cops hate it – October 8, 2014
Short-timer U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder blasts Apple for protecting users’ privacy against government overreach – September 30, 2014
FBI blasts Apple for protective users’ privacy by locking government, police out of iPhones and iPads – September 25, 2014
Apple thinks different about privacy – September 23, 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook ups privacy to new level, takes direct swipe at Google – September 18, 2014
Apple will no longer unlock most iPhones, iPads for government, police – even with search warrants – September 18, 2014
Would you trade privacy for national security? Most Americans wouldn’t – August 6, 2014
Apple begins encrypting iCloud email sent between providers – July 15, 2014
Obama administration demands master encryption keys from firms in order to conduct electronic surveillance against Internet users – July 24, 2013
U.S. NSA seeks to build quantum computer to crack most types of encryption – January 3, 2014
Apple’s iMessage encryption trips up U.S. feds’ surveillance – April 4, 2013
I don’t think there is a leader, yet, that understands this. They have no clue that a back door to your citizen’s data is not a back door to ISIS.
This is amazingly simple, breaking encryption is the same thing as taking guns away from good people, the very people who work hard everyday to make your country run safely.
You are unable to take guns and encryption away from bad guys. Why? Because they, unlike the good people, don’t follow the law. They are out to harm you. And one way for them to harm you, is to harm good people, who are defenseless.
Guess what happens to good people, who have nothing to loose?
Get it?
Our right wing brethren is eager to take away your freedom.
The GOP is considerably less clueless than Hillary the Lying Felon on the subject of encryption:
Hillary Clinton wants a ‘Manhattan Project’ to cure encryption; Snowden, Andreessen mock
There’s your mistake, Registered Voter. Despite decades of proof that both parties are screwed up (mostly in different ways, but not completely), you persist in thinking that yours is somehow better and more enlightened in some fashion. Bullshit.
By the way, the fact that you are anonymous renders your opinion less worthy to me. It is as if you are afraid… Fwhatever is misguided, too, but at least he has the nads to register.
I agree with KingMel again!
Both major parties are full of shit, and both are against freedom. They just each have different freedoms they want to take away.
The strongest bipartisan efforts in the U.S. are on stripping away rights.
Encryption is not like a gun. It is not under your control. It is more like gravity.
Can you take gravity away from someone. No you can’t. It is a universal law and cannot be outlawed by America. Encryption is Mathematics. Like gravity, it abides by universal laws. Not laws written in America.
You can provide whatever “backdoors” you like. ISIS can still encode their own encryption just like they can add 1+1. Besides this, they can do all sorts of other less sophisticated techniques to ensure safe communication before even resorting to encryption of their own.
Backdoors ain’t gonna stop ISIS. What backdoors do is allow the government to control your bank account, your privacy, your everything. People like Jeb don’t know this. They truly think that back doors will help avoid terrorism. Just like Jeb doesn’t understand the capabilities of his Apple Watch, he doesn’t understand the capabilities (or incapabilities) of backdoors. But whoever wants this power (to eavesdrop) is happy to keep pushing the buttons of these scientifically uneducated ignorant politicians such that they serve their agenda.
Trouble with politicians like Jeb is they think they know what they do, but in actual fact they know not what they do.
Paul, that might be too generous. I think some politicians actually DO know they are spouting nonsense, but are willing to do spout nonsense that gets them donations, votes, and power. Some are even then willing to legislate dangerous nonsense in law, just to show their supporters they really meant the nonsense they knowingly spewed.
But, you’re probably right that most of them really are that dumb.
I got ya!
Also, giving the government free access to your cell phones is the same thing as giving the government back your rights under the 1st and 4th Amendments to the US Constitution.
Plain and simple. Ya’ll get it?
Jeb’s campaign is over, only the Establishment™ doesn’t know it.
Jeb makes his brother, W, look like a scholar!
coming from wun dum gai, that was brilliant, even more so than jeb’s comments, i wish i was so dum
You can give back doors to OS’s, but that DOES NOT stop an individual from sending a file that is encrypted.
ISIS is not stupid, like some in WDC.
Back doors to OS’s means you might lose all your funds in your online bank account, though. How do you prove it was not you who took your funds out?
“You have to be out of your mind to think we’re better off today than in 2008 when he took office” – Jeb Bush
Yes, he really said that
The question for Jeb Bush is “If the US government can require Apple to hand over the keys, what will prevent China from demanding the same access? Would you be comfortable knowing that China can read your private communications?”
forget china, if there are keys to our communication, the ISIS will have them quick enough, our national banking system will be gone in what seems like moments…. they will find the keys like china found the SS#’s and data about so many american employees…
sad fact, the people making these decisions have no idea, don’t elect them on this issue, please
Basically this whole thing is like wanting to have your cake and eat it too. You can’t have both perfect privacy and perfect security. The people who most want power will do just about anything to get it whether it is those who have it or those trying to return to it (Hillary). In this case it’s ISIS. We need to get in so we can stop ISIS. The other favorite is the “Think of the children” justification. Possession of child porn, and being arrested for it, doesn’t magically undo what that child did any more than shutting down Brony websites eliminates people fantasizing about My Little Pony. Pedophiles make up maybe 5% of the population, roughly that of the LGBT community. But the government wants to labor under the assumption that 100% of the population are secretly attracted to young boys and girls (those who’ve yet to reach puberty). Power grabs don’t end and those who have power don’t easily or willingly surrender it, if history is an indication.