Encryption is currently a very hot topic, what with Apple trying to fend off the FBI and the courts from ordering them to unlock an iPhone belonging to a terrorist. The basic idea is that regardless of whose phone it is, unlocking the device or creating a backdoor will create a dangerous precedent, at least that’s the argument that is being presented.Recently at the SXSW festival, President Obama finally addressed the issue to the crowd, but based on what he has said, it certainly sounds like he is definitely not on Apple’s side. According to Obama, he says that right now the public already makes certain concessions when it comes to being searched. “We agree on that because we recognize that just like all of our other rights — with speech and religion, etc. — that there are going to be some constraints that we impose in order to make sure that we are safe, secure and living in a civilized society.”
He also acknowledges that the Snowden reports have probably led many to become suspicious of the government, but he also adds that “there has to be some concession to the need to be able to get into that information somehow.”
He goes on to warn that if this does not get resolved, it could lead to consequences that no one will be happy about. “What you’ll find is that after something really bad happens, the politics of this will swing and it will become sloppy and rushed and it will go through Congress in ways that have not been thought through.”