Republican constitutional lawyer, Ted Olson, takes Apple’s case
❝ After the court laid down its verdict demanding Apple to unlock the encrypted iPhone of San Bernardino shooters, the newly hired outside lawyer said in his first statement in the case, that the order could imperil the privacy of millions of people around the world.
In an ABC report, Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson stated, “This is not just one magistrate in San Bernardino. There are hundreds of magistrates, there are hundreds of other courts.”
He also added that following the order would open a ‘Pandora’s box’ on privacy issue and there would be no limitation on what the government could require Apple to do…
❝ Apple CEO Tim Cook has chosen to stand for privacy and will oppose the order, as released in an open letter to customers.
He emphatically stated that to compromise the security of the personal information can ultimately put the personal safety at risk. This is also the reason behind the importance of encryption.
“For many years, we have used encryption to protect our customers’ personal data because we believe it’s the only way to keep their information safe. We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business,” he added…
❝ No evidence has surfaced so far to indicate Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were in contact with terrorists, or had received outside support, before the attack, which left 14 people dead. The couple were later killed in a shootout with police.
❝ Civil liberties groups warn that forcing companies to crack their own encryption endangers the technical integrity of the Internet and threatens not just the privacy of customers, but potentially that of citizens of any country.
Most technology security experts, including many who have served in government opined that technical efforts to provide government access to encrypted devices inevitably degrades security for everyone since 1990s.
❝ The right to privacy is a human right and an element of various legal traditions which may restrain both government and private party action that threatens the privacy of individuals. It is also Constitutional right which is innate in every citizen of the country.
The FBI has a long history of lying about violations of civil liberties and civil rights. Until the Carter administration the FBI batted 1.000 in lynching cases – obtaining zero convictions. I was part of a civil liberties class action suit against the FBI and local law enforcement over 40 years ago. A successful lawsuit against illegal wiretapping. The creepy bastards even wiretapped my parent’s phone in case I made a subversive phone call when I dropped by for a family Sunday dinner. Their net was so broad they even tapped the phone of a slug like Joe Lieberman because he was head of the Yale Young Dems.
The history goes back to the Red Squads incorporated in most police departments even before World War 1. And never ended. Legislators in Congress and statehouses would act up once or twice a century and lay some heat on the police state the Feds wanted in place – and they would make nice for a few years. But, sooner or later, along would come a creep like Reagan or George W who would write a blank check for anything the FBI or CIA or NSA wanted. And our civil liberties were relegated to history books, again.
This fight is not a new one. Not in my lifetime. Not in the history passed since our Declaration of Independence. What is required — as ever – is people of courage to stand up and be counted. Counted on the side of our rights.
#standwithapple
