Donald Trump on Encryption

Many have forgotten the topic since it was in the news many months ago in early 2016, but encryption was at one point a controversial topic in the American news cycle.

Back in February, the FBI asked Apple, Inc to create a version of its iPhone operating system that would allow the investigators to hack their way into the iPhone 5C of the San Bernardino shooter. Apple refused, saying that the privacy of all of their customers is of paramount interest to them, and they were not going to aid the FBI in creating a precedent where they help law enforcement with anyone they want to get into the phone of.

This turned into a national conversation and debate over encryption, which reached critical mass in the following months. Encryption can be loosely defined in the context of consumer electronics as the process of encoding messages or information in such a way that only authorized parties can read it. In this sense, it means that it's almost impossible to get into someone's locked iPhone unless you have the encryption key (which only Apple has) or you know the password to get into it. Even law enforcement is helpless to get into a well-secured locked iPhone.

Later that February, this same debate became a political issue in the presidential primary. The new President-elect Donald Trump, then just contending for the Republican nomination, made a big splash when he came out against Apple and said he would boycott Apple devices if they didn't give the 'info' to the FBI.

I use both iPhone & Samsung. If Apple doesn't give info to authorities on the terrorists I'll only be using Samsung until they give info.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2016

Just like other parts of the campaign, he made a lot of headlines and received a lot of positive press for this stance, despite how popular of a brand Apple is.

What is worrying about this, though, is that encryption is actually a really important technology that is incredibly helpful for the tech community overall. Encryption is the only way we can keep classified information out of foreign hands as a nation. It's the only way we can have secure digital communications, ensuring the same privacy we have when we talk in person with one another.

The fact that our new President-elect was willing to roll over on privacy so easily just a matter of months ago as part of a publicity stunt is very concerning and we need to remain vigilant to show our public officials, especially our soon-to-be commander-in-chief, that privacy is not something to be violated at the first sign of inconvenience for the government.