Encryption has become a new thing that large companies like Apple and Google have hopped on as a way for their customers to secure their phones to the fullest. As good as encryption sounds, the U.S. government thinks other wise when it comes to this secure lockdown of smartphone devices. In a boldly worded document released by the Department of Justice, they stated that a child could die if kidnapped. Now this may sound a little extreme to say such a thing but from the looks of what’s going on, the US government is willing to do anything in their power to bypass smartphone encryption.
Reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice implied in their document saying, “New encryption technology that renders locked [smartphones] impervious to law enforcement would lead to tragedy. A child would die, he said, because police wouldn’t be able to scour a suspect’s phone, according to people who attended the meeting.” The Department of Justice’s reasons sound a little extreme but even Apple thinks the same, calling the dead child scenario inflammatory.
In addition to their comment, the Department of Justice said, “But law-enforcement officials see it as a move in the wrong direction. The new encryption will make it much harder for the police, even with a court order, to look into a phone for messages, photos, appointments or contact lists, they say. Even Apple itself, if served with a court order, won’t have the key to decipher information encrypted on its iPhones.” These fiery words are just part of the big fight against technology companies that wish to protect their customers privacy against government monitoring and surveillance. Just recently, Facebook announced that their messaging service, WhatsApp is now using end-to-end encryption. Facebook will now no longer be able to decrypt any messages that gets sent from user to user. For the many people that use a smartphone, encryption is the best way we can secure our phones and keep them safe from people we would like to keep personal data from. The polarizing arguments between the U.S. Government and technology companies like Google and Apple is starting to heat up. Which direction do you think this debate will go? Drop your thoughts in the comments.