Who Is Picking Sides? Apple v. FBI

In the ongoing discussion of Apple vs The FBI, it is no surprise that people are taking sides. So who is in Apple’s corner and who is backing the FBI? Here are some of the most interesting opinions:

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Team Apple

 

Apple Engineers: “Among the secretive, almost religious community of expert security engineers, breaking your own encryption is seen as shameful and unholy.” Read More

 

Tim Cook, Apple CEO: In another open letter today, Apple says: “Yes, it is certainly possible to create an entirely new operating system to undermine our security features as the government wants. But it’s something we believe is too dangerous to do. The only way to guarantee that such a powerful tool isn’t abused and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is to never create it.” Read The Open Letter

 

Glenn Beck, Conservative Talk Show Host: “This is insanity. Apple should NOT hack or develop a back door or key as it will put ALL iphones at risk.”

 

 

 

 

 

Facebook: The government’s demands “create a chilling precedent and obstruct companies’ efforts to secure their products.” The social media giant reinforced that it does comply with lawful requests from authorities, but “will continue to fight aggressively against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems.”

 

Twitter, via Twitter: “We stand with @tim_cook and Apple.”

 

Sundar Pinchai, CEO, Google: “Forcing companies to enable hacking could compromise users’ privacy. We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders. But that’s wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices & data.”

 

Carol Adams (Mother who lost son in San Bernardino shooting) “This is what separates us from communism, isn’t it? The fact we have the right to privacy,” said Adams. “I think Apple is definitely within their rights to protect the privacy of all Americans. This is what makes America great to begin with, that we abide by a Constitution that gives us the right of privacy, the right to bear arms, and the right to vote.”

 

Edward Snowden, via Twitter: “The @FBI is creating a world where citizens rely on #Apple to defend their rights, rather than the other way around.”

 

 

Mark Cuban, Shark Tank: “Amen. A standing ovation. They did the exact right thing… Encryption is easy. It is like wearing a seatbelt in your car. For years we didn’t. Then we did and it was smart.”

 

John Mcafee, Legend: “I’ll decrypt the San Bernardino phone free of charge so Apple doesn’t need to place a back door on its product If you doubt my credentials, Google ‘cybersecurity legend’ and see whose name is the only name that appears in the first 10 results out of more than a quarter of a million.” Read More.

 

Steve Wozniak, The Great and Powerful Woz: “I believe that Apple’s brand recognition and value and profits is largely based on an item called trust. Trust means you believe somebody. You believe you’re buying a phone with encryption. It shouldn’t have hidden backdoors and ways that you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.” Read More.

 

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Team FBI:

James Comey, FBI Director: In his most recent statement said that the scale of the San Bernardino attacks, which left 14 people dead and 22 people injured, warranted the pursuit of all leads, including reviewing Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone 5c. “I hope folks will take a deep breath and stop saying the world is ending, but instead use that breath to talk to each other,” Comey said.

Donald Trump, via Twitter:

 

Shane Harris, Daily Beast: “A 2015 court case shows that the tech giant has been willing to play ball with the government before—and is only stopping now because it might ‘tarnish the Apple brand.’”

 

Tom Cotton, Arkansas Senator: “Apple chose to protect a dead ISIS terrorist’s privacy over the security of the American people… Apple is becoming the company of choice for terrorists, drug dealers, and sexual predators of all sorts.”

 

Josh Ernest, White House spokesperson (via Reuters): “It’s important to recognize that the government is not asking Apple to redesign its product or ‘create a new backdoor’ to its products.”

 

Where do you stand?

 

Switch to a search engine that doesn’t view you as a product, and doesn’t exist solely to sell you to advertisers. Switch to Search Incognito.

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5 ways to Protect Your Privacy

5 ways to Protect Your Privacy

According to recent Studies: “91% of American adults say that consumers have lost control over how personal information is collected and used by companies.” Here are 5 simple ways to protect your privacy:

Keep Things Off The Cloud: For Storage use an external USB drive, preferably an encrypted one.   Everything you put into online storage –Google docs, DropBox, iCloud – becomes part of the great Internet data lump. If it is out there someone can get it.

Don’t use Google: Use a search engine that doesn’t store your searches or track you like Search Incognito.

Major search providers collect data in order to better target advertising. These companies are in the business of making money and search ads are big money.

Major search engines, like Google and Bing, store your search data. This information is tied back to you and your family. In addition, they can associate your searches with other account information such as: location, online purchases, photos and email. (Find out more here).

Clear Cookies: Set your browser to clear all your cookies and history every time you close your browser.

Encrypt Your Hard Drive: You can use Microsoft’s BitLocker or Apple’s FileVault it is easy and effective.

Use a VPN: VPN’s create a secure, encrypted connection between your computer and the internet. Here is a list of providers.

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Try Search Incognito Now!

Apple vs. FBI

8 things you need to know about the battle between Privacy and Justice

Court Order: A U.S Judge in Riverside ruled in favor of the FBI and ordered Apple to help hack into an iPhone used by the gunman in the San Bernardino Terror Attacks. Basically they can’t break in without compromising the data inside.

FBI: The FBI is asking Apple to create a new operating system (that does not currently exist) that will circumvent the pass-code, allowing them access to the phone without risk to the data. This is to gather critical information on suspects that may be linked to the mass murders in San Bernardino.

Apple: In an open letter to its customers Apple explains that this is a dangerous precedent. What the FBI is asking them to do would potentially unlock any iPhone. Apple maintains that this would put all iPhone’s at risk, once the encryption can be defeated, that information can get into the wrong hands.

Global Impact: If Apple provides this information to the U.S. government then the precedent is set, they may be asked to provide the same information to other foreign governments like China.

Is this a Backdoor: A “backdoor” is a weak point that exists permanently in the security of a device or network. It remains there so that the government can get in as it needs. The issue with back doors is that the good guys and bad guys alike are now able to exploit the weakness. Apple argues that if you build a version of iOS that bypasses security that is a backdoor. If the ability exists there is no guarantee that it will only be used in this case.

Legal: All Writs Act of 1789 a rarely used law that allows judges to issue orders they deem necessary and appropriate.

People of San Bernardino: Many of the victim’s families are urging the company to comply with the order to help law enforcement. They fear that there may have been additional plots and others linked to the two terrorists.

Privacy vs Justice: The conflict between maintaining privacy for ordinary US citizens in the digital age and prosecuting or preventing crime is always going to exist. The easier it is to collect, maintain and monitor criminals, the more monitored you will be. Where that line is and how much we will sacrifice to stay safe, will be decided in cases such as this one.

 

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Try This  One Way to Protect Your Privacy Online:

Don’t Use A Major Search Engine: Google collects and stores your searches, they tie your personal information, email, your address, photos, purchases, location to every search you make. Use a search engine that does not collect your personal information or store your search history Like Search Incognito.

 

This Week in Online Privacy

The Winners and Losers This Week in Online Privacy

Winners:
Congress: The U.S. House of Representatives presented a bill to prevent warrant-less government surveillance. This is in direct response to growing tension over government requests to tech companies to create back doors. The government has asked many smartphone makers to weaken their product’s encryption by creating these back-doors, which in theory, would only be accessible by state run agencies. The Full Article

Europe: Google will finally start to scrub search results for “right to be forgotten” requests. Citizens in Europe have the right to ask for the removal of irrelevant or inadequate information when searching their name. However, Google will only scrub the information by geographic locations. If you are in France and you don’t want certain websites or articles attached to your name, you can make a request to be forgotten, but that correlation will still remain outside of France. No word yet on this right extending to Americans. The Full Article

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Losers:
NSA: The NSA is merging its two major divisions into one single directorate. The NSA has two divisions, one is offensive (attacking other people’s systems) and one that is defense (making it hard to break into our systems). The Catch 22 is that the higher you set the cryptographic bar, the higher the standards become and the harder it becomes to break into foreign systems. By merging the two divisions, there is no longer the integrity of dual purpose. It will be much easier to promote weak standards in order to break into foreign networks with greater ease.“The Snowden leaks showed that the NSA did cheat: they deliberately tried to introduce weaknesses into crypto standards so they’d be able to break into foreign networks. This makes their merger of offense and defense a big problem.” The Full Article

Apple: Tim Cook has been bashing Google and Facebook for their lack of data integrity. However it has come to light that Google has paid Apple 1 Billion Dollars to continue the use of it’s search bar on Apple devices. Even with Google’s extensive data tracking that Apple has publicly opposed. What does Google track? You may be surprised. Depending on what google products you use, Google can tie account information like: email you have written, your location, places you have been, voicemail’s, online purchases, all to your search activity. More Information

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Try This  One Way to Protect Your Privacy Online:

Don’t Use A Major Search Engine: Google collects and stores your searches, they tie your personal information, email, your address, photos, purchases, location to every search you make. Use a search engine that does not collect your personal information or store your search history like Search Incognito.