Apple Exec Believes Giving Law Enforcement Agents Backdoor Access Is Dangerous

Law enforcement agencies are once again pushing for more access to mobile devices by being given backdoor privileges. Naturally, tech experts are not happy and the vice president of software engineering for Apple, Craig Federighi recently made it known that he thought this move was dangerous. He argues that doing so essentially destroys the users’ privacy protection.

Apple has a history of resisting government insistence on gaining access to the personal information of its customers, citing their right to privacy. In a New York Times report, it was revealed that law enforcement officials wanted tech companies to accommodate them during investigations by building special tools that could easily bypass a device’s encryption to see what was inside.

In the same article, Federighi made it clear that he emphatically disagrees with what the FBI and Justice Department are trying to achieve. He notes that doing what these officials want would weaken the encryption of the device, thus putting consumers at risk for abusive behavior.

“Proposals that involve giving the keys to customers’ device data to anyone but the customer inject new and dangerous weaknesses into product security,” Federighi’s statement reads. “Weakening security makes no sense when you consider that customers rely on our products to keep their personal information safe, run their businesses or even manage vital infrastructure like power grids and transportation systems.”

As 9to5Mac notes, Apple CEO Tim Cook has never hidden his opinion with regards to such tools, either. He even called them the software equivalent to cancer. If nothing else, this indicates that the Apple’s top dogs are not in favor of what the law enforcement agencies were trying to do. On the other hand, the company has had to make concessions in the past and with the right pressure, it could cave on this issue as well.