President-elect Donald Trump stuns the media again. I say this because he named Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as the new Attorney General. Some point out his controversial racial history. And others point out his immigration policy. But what about Apple? Could the new attorney general start encryption wars?
So there’s a reason I bring Apple up. Some time ago, Apple clashed with the FBI over an iPhone. This iPhone belonged to one of the San Bernadino shooters. In this case, Trump sided with the FBI. So did Jeff Sessions. If you need a recap, the FBI ordered Apple to decode the phone. Apple refused. In fact, when the case broke, Trump suggested consumers boycott Apple.
Now, Trump will become US President in January 2017. Sessions will become the US Attorney General. Sessions openly criticized Apple and other tech companies for making products blocking government access. However, as US Attorney General,? Sessions will be the boss of the Justice Department. Hence, Senator Sessions will have power to prosecute companies that don’t comply with government demands. And Apple isn’t the only tech company who could be under the gun. Whats App is known for blocking government wiretaps. In addition, there’s talk of a revised bill that could go into law. They call it the Burr-Feinstein encryption bill. Consequently, this bill requires tech companies to make less secure products.
Why would this bill require less secure products? So government agencies have easier access to them. That is scary. First of all, if agencies have easier access to them, so will hackers and cyber criminals. Also, Trump’s campaign ran on pro-freedom issues. If Trump and Sessions demand government encryption, they’ll go against everything they campaigned for. Don’t we have the right to privacy? And do we not have the right to be left alone? I know we need to catch the bad guys. But isn’t there a better way?