“Ted Olson didn’t say exactly what he wants Congress to do about U.S. efforts to enlist Apple Inc. in cracking criminals’ encrypted iPhones, but he made one thing clear: Apple doesn’t work for the government,” Christie Smythe and Todd Shields report for Bloomberg. “‘There isn’t a middle ground that I know of’ to force Apple to ‘redesign its iPhone,’ Olson, a lawyer for the company, told Bloomberg Television’s Emily Chang in an interview Wednesday morning. ‘The Constitution does not allow the government to conscript private companies to invent products or to change the products that they have invented.'”
“Olson said that Congress should act to clarify a technology company’s responsibilities to law enforcement in such circumstances, and that piecemeal decisions by the courts will only lead to a muddle” Smythe and Shields report. “He challenged a proposal by U.S Attorney General Loretta Lynch that the judiciary weigh each case one at a time, warning that ‘you might have one court going one way and another court going another way.'””
“‘Do we let one company decide this issue for all of us?’ Lynch had told Chang on Tuesday at the RSA cybersecurity conference in San Francisco. ‘Do we want one company to say this is how investigations are going to be conducted and no other way?'” Smythe and Shields report. “Olson answered that question in Wednesday’s interview: No, not one company, but one legislature. ‘Congress needs to consider what technological resources exist, what can be done by the government without conscripting private citizens to change the products that they make,’ he said, calling for the body to ‘do its job’ and adding: ‘Let’s have this debate.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Judging by the questions she poses, we’re left to conclude that either Loretta Lynch is a really bad obfuscator or she just isn’t that bright.
The day the U.S. government can force anybody to write something is the day the United States of America as we know it dies.
If this keeps up, you won’t need to build a wall. Nobody will want in.
Of course, Apple has in its power to render even these methods, should they be forced upon the company, moot with future iOS updates that protect user privacy from government overreach.
It would be nice, however, not to have to depend on a company to enforce U.S. Constitutional rights, but rather to have a government – made up of people who swear oaths to the Constitution, no less – that protects citizens’ Constitutional rights jealously instead of wiping their asses with the document daily.
SEE ALSO:
ACLU, other privacy groups urge U.S. judge to support Apple vs. U.S. government in iPhone case – March 2, 2016
Apple scored the knockout punch against FBI in House Judiciary Committee hearing – March 2, 2016
Within an hour of Malaysia Flight 370 disappearing, Apple was working with officials to locate it – March 2, 2016
John McAfee reveals how the FBI can unlock an iPhone in 30 minutes – March 2, 2016
Can the FBI force a company to break into its own products? No, says U.S. Magistrate – March 2, 2016
Apple CEO Cook decried Obama’s ‘lack of leadership’ on encryption during a closed-door meeting last month – February 29, 2016
Obama administration set to expand sharing of data that N.S.A. intercepts – February 28, 2016
Apple’s fight with U.S. could speed development of devices impervious to government intrusion – February 24, 2016
Petition asks Obama administration to stop demanding Apple create iPhone backdoor – February 19, 2016
Obama administration claims FBI is not asking Apple for a ‘backdoor’ to the iPhone – February 18, 2016
Obama administration wants access to smartphones – December 15, 2015
Obama administration war against Apple just got uglier – July 31, 2015
Obama’s secret attempt to ban cellphone unlocking, while claiming to support it – November 19, 2013