The Apple of My Eye

First of all, let's concede that the FBI has every right to look into Syad Farook's iPhone. Farook is a notorious dead terrorist and he may have spoken to terrorists who are still alive and unknown. The iPhone in question is the property of San Bernardino County, who has eagerly consented to the search of the phone. Not even innocent people have a reasonable expectation of privacy when using a phone issued by their employer.

Apple has their own reasons for refusing the FBI's request. If this iPhone can be cracked into, then all iPhones can be cracked. This makes the iPhone a less desirable product.

But are lives really at stake here? Farook intentionally destroyed his own personal cell phone. A competent terrorist would have NOT used his government-issue phone to contact other terrorists. This is probably why he didn't bother to destroy the iPhone.

It would seem that governments on all levels have a new dilemma when it comes to encryption. On the one hand, they need the ability to monitor their own employees. On the other hand, they need to keep sensitive information out of the wrong hands. But most people already know better than to use hardware that the IT department can monitor when they are up to no good. So we should be grateful that this iPhone is difficult to spy on, for now.