By Bryce Ronquillo
Americans today are concerned about protecting privacy rather than protecting our national security.
In case of an investigation, law enforcement has the right to present a search warrant to access private property.
However, that is not the case with data encryptions.
All electronic devices have data encryption codes that are made to protect consumer privacy and rights.
These codes are accessed solely by the companies that produce the device.
Phone companies are not obligated to give up this information to law enforcement, even with a warrant. This puts our security, as a society, at risk.
In the events of the San Bernardino attack on Dec. 2, Apple refused to give the FBI access to the data of the suspect shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
The FBI eventually hacked the phones without the help of Apple. The search would have been easier if they had access to the data-encryption.
Apple considered suing the FBI for hacking the phone, but did not follow through.
Criminals are able to operate freely behind the privacy of data-encrypted phones and computers and our law enforcement can’t stop them.
Giving local police this power would be even more beneficial.
The Internet is used every day to commit crimes like drug-trafficking and child pornography.
If law enforcement had access to this data, they could easily convict these criminals and keep them off the streets.
The common fear is that by giving the federal government access to their personal texts, emails and phone calls, people are at risk of being hacked by cyber-terrorists.
The truth of that matter is that we are already at risk of that.
We are preventing our government from protecting us from these threats.
Another fear is that the government will abuse this power and snoop through everyday citizens’ private conversations, unregulated.
This is isn’t an irrational fear. Once the government is given power, it’s difficult to get it back.
However, this isn’t a problem if citizens aren’t breaking federal laws.
They are interested in catching criminals, not harassing good American people.
On Nov. 24, 2015, there were two active shooters on the East Los Angeles College campus.
It’s no secret that schools are a target for people seeking to harm others. Safety from these people should be a primary concern for students. If local law enforcement has access to these criminals’ phones and personal information, we’d be a lot safer.
On April 13, the Sacramento Bee reported that a California phone decryption bill was defeated unanimously.
The bill would have allowed courts access to phone data and penalized the companies that don’t comply with them.
In the state of California, the technology industry is so prominent, the Judiciary committee wouldn’t dare vote against them.
Strong data-encryption is important to prevent access by hackers and cyber-terrorists.
In a perfect world, companies like Apple could create products that protect the people.
This allows the federal government and law enforcement to protect its people as well. Sacrificing privacy to save lives is worth it in the long run.
Are you out of your mind? “Sacrificing privacy to save lives is worth it in the long run.” The question you should ask and ultimately investigate, what led to the attacks in: San Bernardino, 9/11 and so on? What makes a person do what they do? Would you do the same as Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik if your people, your homes, your family were constantly under attack by another country? Find the answer to those questions and you will understand why they did what they did. As a former C.N. reporter, allow me to help you too:
Evidence :
01) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U66ab4cMCE
02) https://www.splcenter.org/news/2011/03/29/anti-muslim-incidents-sept-11-2001
As a reporter, if you sacrifice freedom for safety, then what is stopping the same government who are saying they want to protect you from turning on you because of a scathing story you wrote? Tell me, how is this story:
Collateral Murder – Wikileaks – Iraq – YouTube
Video for helicopter gunship kill reporters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0
A threat to your safety? The video above, Collateral Murder, leaked by whistleblower Chelsea Manning had no bearing on national security, and she is imprisoned for sharing this video. As you can see, the link is on YouTube. What is stopping Monterey Park P.D. or the Los Angeles Country Sheriff’s Department from raiding your production room and confiscating your stories because of nation security? Your First Amendment Right? Really? More than 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were removed from their homes during the war and relocated to concentration camps and prison because, the U.S. were in fear of Fifth Column Spies. In 1943, the President of the United States, FDR realized that there were no evidence of espionage and that the camps were NOT necessary, but waited until 1945 to release my people because of Roosevelt’s reelection.
If the federal government can forcibly remove one ethnic group from Hawai’i, British Columbia Canada and as far south as Peru, what is stopping the local, state or federal law enforcement from raiding Campus News and possibly arresting the editors as well as Jean?
By condoning this: ” Sacrificing privacy to save lives is worth it in the long run.”, you run the risk of allowing the government to take away our voice. So again, don’t like what Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik did? Are you frightened about terrorists blowing up ELAC? If so, use your newspaper to find out why people kill others in the first place to prevent what happened in San Bernardino, instead of react with fear and watch your rights vanish from in front of your face.