Famous American software developer, politician, cyber security expert, creator of the world’s first commercial antivirus program, millionaire, and an all-around eccentric John McAfee gave some additional insight on Apple’s latest clash with the US government regarding user privacy which started a huge debate in the country in recent weeks. Over the course of the month, many relevant individuals and companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other large firms dealing with user data have expressed support for Apple who is refusing to grant FBI access to a locked iPhone 5c that belonged to one of the gunmen from the December San Bernardino shooting. The creator of McAfee antivirus was one of the first of them to do so, stating that he’ll decrypt the iPhone in question free of charge if the government stops trying to obligate Apple to help them in obtaining user data in all future cases regardless of individual circumstances.
Earlier today however, the 70-year-old added to his comments from February 18th by taking a slightly different approach to the issue as he argued that what the US judicial system is trying to do – which is to force Apple into creating a backdoor into their iOS devices for the government agencies to use at their own discretion – may very well be illegal. Specifically, McAfee and his legal team are claiming that the US is basically trying to force Apple into “involuntary servitude” which was formally abolished along with slavery by the 13th Amendment passed in 1865. As explained by McAfee, the issue is simple: “Two essential elements of involuntary servitude are involuntariness, which is a compulsion to act against one’s will, and servitude, which is some form of labor for another.” The millionaire believes that this is precisely what’s being asked of Apple and has called upon FBI – the initiator of this entire situation – to comment on his claims though that hasn’t happened by the time of writing this article.
Apart from being the Libertarian party presidential candidate in the upcoming 2016 presidential elections in the US, John McAfee has also recently been busy with launching the super-secure USB authenticator EveryKey. The said device has already started shipping to backers after a successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo which raised almost $150,000.