A reporter revealed a few days ago that his co-passenger approached him and told him that he was able to hack into the reporter's laptop and was able to read all the e-mails he both sent and received.
Before the incident took place, Apple released a customer letter addressing why they are against FBI's demand. The iPhone company said that the encryption case is getting out of hands.
It can be recalled that after the San Bernardino shootings, the FBI was able to get hold of the iPhone used by shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. According to Gizmodo, "[t]he FBI has a warrant to search the phone's contents, and because it was Farook's work phone, the FBI also has permission from the shooter's employer, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, to search the device. Legally, the FBI can and should search this phone." However, that is not the main reason why Apple was against FBI's demand.
While many questioned the decision of Apple, many other do not actually care about the case. However, the recent hacking incident that happened in midair actually implies that everyone - American or not - should be more vigilant and should be more attentive to the Apple vs FBI case than usual.
Here are two reasons:
1. Weakening encryption is a security risk
The current head of the CIA (and former director of the National Security Agency) Michael Hayden. "Harvard recently published a report showing that metadata continues to be unencrypted, and in fact is often the most important form of data since it is the most easily analyzed."
Weaker encryption is equal to lesser safety for all our encrypted information - banking, medical, personal information, and other important records. Not being able to have a safe way for our records and a sense of anonymity means the American people is more prone to tyranny.
"Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority." - United States Supreme Court
2. America is just one country in the global community
One has to consider that the US government is not the only one around the world. Each governemtn holds different ideas on free expression. Greg Norcie, in his opinion article on Daily Dot, said: "Many people ask 'What if this request is denied, and innocents are killed? Is this abstract notion of 'privacy' worth that cost'? This is a false dichotomy. It is not only the American government who will demand that phones be decrypted."
This means that all of us can be in danger if "backdoors can be compelled."
The bottomline? "Encryption backdoors unacceptably weaken security, and must be vigorously opposed."
