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Today: Tell the FBI “No Backdoor in Our Phones”

Reposted from the Massachusetts Pirate Party blog.

Today we are joining with Fight for the Future and other groups to protest a judge’s order to Apple to build a software “backdoor” to help them hack into the encrypted iPhone of Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters. We will meet at 5:30pm at the Apple Store, 815 Boylston Street in Boston. If you cannot attend the Boston rally, you can find others at dontbreakourphones.org. Fight for the Future has computer/smart phone sign you can get and display and a flyer you can print out and bring.

The FBI botched recovering the data on the phone using existing user recovery methods (and with Apple’s help) and isn’t likely to find anything of value on the phone. The FBI says that order is confined to just one phone, but others are eager to exploit a win by the FBI.

Following this order gives the FBI a precedent for getting a backdoor in any phone. Once that precedent is set, it won’t be too long before the FBI will be using FISA warrants or potentially no warrants to get into our phones. And if the back door exists, then other countries that don’t have our SCOTUS-limited 4th Amendment will be using it to get into the phones of dissidents. Whatever your feelings about Apple, this issue affects all encryption software, and thus potentially everyone’s privacy.

If you cannot attend the Boston rally, you can find others at dontbreakourphones.org. You can even organize one at an Apple store near you, just email info@fightforthefuture.org so Fight for the Future knows about it.

Mark Fiore has a funny cartoon on being “wiretap friendly” that applies just as well here. Lets make sure we can laugh about this and not fear for our privacy and security.

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