Trevor Timm writes for The Guardian:
‘Much of the world has been enthralled by the new iPhone 6, but civil liberties advocates have been cheering, too: Along with iOS 8, Apple made some landmark privacy improvements to your devices, which Google matched with its Android platform only hours later. Your smartphone will soon be encrypted by default, and Apple or Google claim they will not be able open it for anyone – law enforcement, the FBI and possibly the NSA – even if they wanted to.
Predictably, the US government and police officials are in the midst of a misleading PR offensive to try to scare Americans into believing encrypted cellphones are somehow a bad thing, rather than a huge victory for everyone’s privacy and security in a post-Snowden era. Leading the charge is FBI director James Comey, who spoke to reporters late last week about the supposed “dangers” of giving iPhone and Android users more control over their phones. But as usual, it’s sometimes difficult to find the truth inside government statements unless you parse their language extremely carefully.’
- FBI Director Equates Protecting Personal Privacy with Lawlessness
- FBI Director James Comey ‘Very Concerned’ About New Apple, Google Privacy Feature
- FBI gags state and local police on capabilities of cellphone spy gear
- Apple Still Has Plenty of Your Data for the Feds
- The US government doesn’t want you to know how the cops are tracking you
- The Great 2014 Celebrity Nude Photos Leak is only the beginning
Filed under: Apple, Big Tech, FBI, Google, Mobile Phones, Police State/Big Brother USA, Science & Technology, Surveillance, USA
