Personal Privacy Analysis

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Privacy is thought to be the exterior barrier that protects citizens and maintains control over their lives, however, if in the wrong hands, a person’s privacy can be exploited. Syed Rizwan, who was involved in the San Bernardino Massacre and confirmed as one of the terrorists, murdered 14 people and injured 22 at a holiday luncheon. After the police investigated the area, they found bombs, ammunition, and three phones. The first two were crushed by the terrorists; however the third was still intact. Unfortunately, the phone was set up so that a passcode was required, which the FBI did not possess and they were against the idea of guessing because the phone’s data was thought to be erased after ten failed tries. The FBI asked Apple to create …show more content…

The FBI’s refusal to assist Apple has shown their true colors. FBI director, James Comey, announced that the FBI might not give Apple the vulnerable information because they do not want Apple to strengthen their software, which would lead the FBI to start over to ask for the data and Apple would deny them again. This problem will rise because of the different values that matter to the FBI and Apple. Furthermore, Apple has helped the government previously which is proven by Mogull’s statement that “Apple has a long history of complying with court orders and assisting law enforcement.‪ Even today, data in most of their online services (iCloud, excluding iMessage and FaceTime)‪ can be provided upon legal request”. FBI denying aid to Apple shows the unfair actions and how they treat those who help them. The FBI has found another way to guarantee the results they want based on their preference on how to get the data. These actions did not work in the FBI’s favor with the people as suggested, “the FBI may have lost some of the public's trust. After repeatedly insisting that only Apple could help authorities unlock the phone, it turned out there was another way” (Newsela). The FBI purposely keeps Apple in the dark so they can unlock future …show more content…

The FBI can use the technology Apple has to arrest criminals that may abuse people. Although the FBI obtained a search warrant from the federal judge, Apple did not comply with the orders and refused to give assistance to the FBI: “Apple's refusal to cooperate may anger consumers who put a higher value on national security than privacy. A recent survey found that 82 percent of U.S. adults think government surveillance of suspected terrorists is acceptable” (Newsela). Getting a hold of terrorists is more valuable because it makes a bigger impact than examining information about people. The intelligence they gather could guide them in following their job’s requirements, which is to protect the people. Torr provides factual evidence of the threats to the world today to connect the events by analyzing the public’s view, “the threat of being watched by Big Brother or smeared by the FBI seems a lot smaller than the threat of being blown to bits or poisoned by terrorists” (28). He is trying to communicate the fact that people need to be more cooperative because the biggest threat to the country now is the threat of being terrorized. Torr adds onto his explanation by creating a relationship to the events currently taking place and that “the chance that the U.S. government will become a police state because it is better able to analyze private transactions for signs of terrorism is virtually nil;

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