Roger Fingas
US government policies on device encryption should be decided by the public and Congress, not companies like Apple, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in an interview at the World Economic Forum being held this week in Davos, Switzerland.
"I don't think it is Silicon Valley's decision to make about whether encryption is the right thing to do," Stephenson commented to the Wall Street Journal. I understand [Apple CEO] Tim Cook's decision, but I don't think it's his decision to make."
Cook has become one of the strongest corporate backers of encryption, arguing against demands from some in the U.S. government — including FBI director James Comey — for legally-mandated backdoors. Such gaps can make it possible to retrieve important evidence against criminals and terrorists. Cook's position, however, has been that backdoors simply make it easier for hackers, criminals, and spy agencies to steal data or launch attacks.
Earlier this month U.S. President Barack Obama said that government agencies have a legitimate need to sometimes bypass encryption, while respecting the importance of personal privacy.
The full-disk encryption in iOS 8 and 9 is so tough that Apple claims even it can't unlock a device, with or without a warrant. Later versions of Android can be similarly locked down.
In the interview, Stephenson also protested the focus on AT&T in the privacy debate. The company was one of the first to allow the National Security Agency to tap metadata on a mass scale, cooperating closely with the organization to test and install surveillance systems, and even facilitate a court order the NSA wanted to tap Internet chatter at the United Nations in New York City.
"It is silliness to say there's some kind of conspiracy between the U.S. government and AT&T," he said, reiterating the company's claim that it only hands over information when served with a warrant or other court order.
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73 Comments
AT&T is a government regulate Telco as such they have to comply with Fed Telecom Laws and regulations. He just upset they years ago they were force to allow the government back door access into their communications systems. Since they were regulated they had no choice but to comply at the tie. They already let the cat out of the back and now they want Apple to let their cat out as week. Yes the government and police need a warrant to wire tap your phone, but they no longer have to call up the phone company to perform the tap, once they have the warranty they can log into the phone switches and begin listening in.
Are they willing and ready to take full responsibility for any At&t iPhone user breach caused by his support of back doors? My guess is no.
He is quite wrong. It is a decision for the courts, specifically SCOTUS, on whether it is a violation of the 4th Amendment for the government to be able to search and seize your communications. The government mandating all phones be unencrypted is directly analogous to it mandating all house front doors be kept unlocked; nobody would put up with that, nor should they put up with this. Stephenson is wrong about it being a decision for the people; if the people all wanted something else that was unconstitutional, such as mandated prayer in schools or slavery, they wouldn't get those either. The point of laws in general and the Constitution in particular, is not to cowtow to the whim of the masses, but to protect the rights of oppressed minority.
screw. him. our rights, such as the right to privacy, are assumed to exist and are only recognized by the government, not granted.
how do these bonehead stuffed shirts get to be among the corporate-America elite??
While Apple’s motives and ethics may be pure they will certainly lose this conflict. Apple will not be able to resist the power and force of the U.S. government in this matter. If the government mandates backdoors through legislation that passes constitutional muster (as determined by the SCOTUS) Apple, along with Google’s Android will comply or cease to exist. And I’m damned sure Apple already provides backdoors to the Chinese Communist government or they wouldn’t be selling iPhones in China right now.
Rant and rave all you want to about privacy and security. You may be right but this is the REAL world we live in.