FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, February 17, 2016
CONTACT: Erin Humiston, (972) 874-5139, or erin@IPI.org
DALLAS – In a statement today concerning Apple Inc.’s opposition to giving the FBI a backdoor to the iPhone, Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) president Tom Giovanetti applauded CEO Tim Cook for his stance on protecting consumers’ privacy.
Giovanetti said:
“It’s a sad state of affairs when Americans have to rely on private companies to protect our constitutional rights against the government, but apparently that’s where we are. That’s why I commend Tim Cook of Apple for his strong statement opposing the FBI’s overly broad demand for a tool that would allow them to break encryption on any iPhone in the world.
Americans have the right to have our digital papers and digital houses as secure as our analog papers and houses, as any reasonable interpretation of the Fourth Amendment would demand. That’s why at the same time we are asking the federal government to enhance digital privacy through updating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), we also oppose broad attempts to defeat encryption on mobile devices.
Federal law enforcement has long sought to deny Americans access to robust encryption, going all the way back to the origins of the Internet. Had the feds succeeded, we would not today have the secure ecommerce economy that we enjoy, because all of that commerce depends on strong encryption.
But today the FBI is using a sympathetic case and an expansive interpretation of a law from 1789 to demand a backdoor into the iPhones of everyone around the world, which includes political leaders from other nations who use iPhones.
The law enforcement function is vital to a safe and secure society, but keeping law enforcement within constitutional limits is vital to a free society. We can have both. We encourage the FBI to work constructively with Apple in their specific investigation in the San Bernardino domestic terrorism case without using the case as an excuse to seek overly broad powers it has already been denied many times in the past.”
Tom Giovanetti is president of the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), an independent, nonprofit public policy research organization based in Dallas. He is available for interview by contacting Erin Humiston at (972) 874-5139, or erin@ipi.org.
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