Recently, Apple made a big splash in the news with an announcement that its new system of data encryption would make it impossible for the company to comply with demands from the government that data on an individual’s smartphone be retrieved and provided to the government. Google quickly followed suit.
It’s a great idea and a neat dodge. After all, if you are literally unable to comply with a government warrant, it’s hard to make a case that you’re obstructing justice. While the government certainly won’t be happy with this move, it’s hard to imagine consumers who’ve been bombarded by story after story of technological privacy breaches will complain. In fact, this action by Apple is a classic example of market forces at work. The company sensed a particular demand in the marketplace and responded. While it isn’t a silver-bullet solution, it’s a positive step.
The libertarian journalist John Stossel has opined that the advancement of technology helps protect our liberties from the government. I’d add government incompetence and inertia to that point, but the crux is that we are in a constant footrace with Big Government. We advance in sprints and pauses, with every innovation jumping us forward to a degree. Government lumbers along, slow and inefficient but inexorable. We fight back when we can and how we can, by complaining to our politicians and by (occasionally) electing someone who is on our side, but that certainly hasn’t been enough. Every advance in our living standards (made possible by technological advances) seems to be followed up with new ways for the government to intrude on our privacy. Most of us didn’t worry for many years, because government surveillance was typically permitted only by warrant. But, with the NSA revelations, with an increasingly difficult relationship between government and citizens, and with so much regarding our lives being recorded and stored electronically, more and more people have legitimate and substantial concerns about their privacy.
Frequent stories about massive breaches of credit card and other data from supposedly secure servers, story after story about identity theft, and occasional leaked celebrity photos and personal data have helped to push the “market need” to a level that prompted Apple and Google responded. The big boys’ response will probably be a game-changer. Consumers will want more security, businesses will respond. And, with the precedent established and the idea “out there,” smaller firms and individuals might be less afraid to go this path. Every so often, an idea or a product comes out that is a “game-changer.” While this data gimmick isn’t the next Walkman or iPhone, it is the sort of thing that could make many people say “wait – they can do that? I want more!”
I expect government to recognize the “threat” and push back, and very likely to exert public and private intimidation. I expect the courts will end up having their say. But, short of an overt and public demand by the government to ensure access to people’s devices in the form of legislation, I don’t see how the government gets around this maneuver. Whether the government succeeds in writing law mandating that producers build in a way for law enforcement to access private information on our devices is ultimately up to us. If we, as consumers in a free market continue to keep privacy concerns at the fore, those whose lives and careers depend on having us vote for them might think twice about eroding that privacy.
Loading ...
Active Comment Threads
Most Commented Posts
Universal Background Checks – A Back Door to Universal Registration
COVID Mask Follies
When Everything Is Illegal…
An Anti-Vax Inflection Point?
“Not In My Name”
The Great Social Media Crackup
War Comes Through The Overton Window
The First Rule of Italian Driving
Most Active Commenters