Our Opinion: Screening of ‘Agents of Change’ at King’s College puts profound focus on black history

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Happy birthday to Lia Katherine Pacelli!

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The Federal Bureau of Investigation and tech giant Apple are at odds over potentially drastic encryption-breaking measures a federal court has ordered the company to undertake on behalf of the law enforcement agency.</p><p>On Wednesday, a federal magistrate ordered Apple to produce software that would help federal investigators hack into a phone used by one of the alleged San Bernardino shooters &#8212; not by breaking the encryption directly, but by disabling other security measures that prevent attempts to guess the phone&#8217;s passcode.</p><p>Apple has five days to challenge that order, setting the stage for a legal clash that experts say could change the relationship between tech companies and government authorities in the U.S. and around the world.</p><p>In a letter to consumers, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the move &#8220;a dangerous precedent&#8221;. The letter explained that the new encryption measures would remove security features and add new capabilities to iPhones&#8217; operating systems, enabling a passcode to be input electronically.</p><p>The letter claims the move would make it easier to unlock an iPhone &#8220;by brute force&#8221; by trying millions of combinations with a modern supercomputer.</p><p>&#8220;The implications of the government&#8217;s demands are chilling,&#8221; Cook wrote. &#8220;The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone&#8217;s microphone or camera without your knowledge.&#8221;</p><p>While federal law enforcement officials have been vocal in their opposition to cellphone encryption, their state and local counterparts in Pennsylvania were mum on the issue when reached for comment Tuesday.</p><p>Trooper Adam Reed, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Police, said in an email that his agency does not have a stance on cell phone encryption.</p><p>Officials from the Pennsylvania Attorney General&#8217;s Office declined to comment.</p><p>Swoyersville resident Kyle Schimmel sees the reasoning in the order, but he doesn&#8217;t think the ends justify the means.</p><p>&#8220;Ethically, I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s right,&#8221; said Schimmel, 19. &#8220;I think it has a practical use, but I don&#8217;t think they should be building things to hack into people&#8217;s phones.&#8221;</p><p>Gerry DuBoice, a Kingston resident and non-traditional student at Wilkes University, doesn&#8217;t think ethics should stand in the way of public safety.</p><p>&#8220;I believe in privacy, but in a case like this I believe exceptions should be made,&#8221; said DuBoice, 73. &#8220;With people&#8217;s security at stake, Apple needs to realize they aren&#8217;t the end-all be-all. I believe exceptions have to be made; this would be a justified exception.&#8221;</p><p>Dr. Justin Matus, associate dean of Wilkes University&#8217;s Sidhu School of Business, sees Tim Cook&#8217;s decision to openly oppose the order as a question of commerce, not ethics.</p><p>&#8220;This is nothing more than a business decision that Apple has made,&#8221; Mathus said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t give Tim Cook any credit for having taken some deeply philosophical, line-in-the-sand ethical position. It&#8217;s a business decision, very plain and simple.&#8221;</p><p>According to Matus, Apple&#8217;s stance is the company&#8217;s way of showing current and future customers their privacy is protected. He said the tech giant likely will consider customers lost due to the decision a cost of doing business.</p><p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t satisfy everybody, but I&#8217;m sure that Tim Cook feels that the majority of his customers will support his decision and those that don&#8217;t will vote with their wallet,&#8221; Matus said. &#8220;I think the impact on Apple&#8217;s bottom line will be negligible.&#8221;</p><p>Dr. Joseph Curran, chair of Misericordia University&#8217;s Religious Studies Department and executive director of the university-affiliated Ethics Institute of Northeastern Pennsylvania, thinks Apple and Cook had more than just economic interests in mind when taking their stance.</p><p>&#8220;It really seems to me the company is showing concerns for the common good, the good of their customers and the good of the entire country,&#8221; Curran said.</p><p>Curran said the FBI is doing their job by pursuing every avenue in regards to their investigation, but he&#8217;s concerned about the vulnerabilities technology like the software in question would create.</p><p>&#8220;I am concerned about how many of our civil liberties we may sacrifice in the name of our security,&#8221; Curran said. &#8220;I think safety and security are important, but I think civil liberties are more important and once you give up your civil liberties, your safety and security are compromised in other ways.&#8221;</p><p>Apple may be the focus of this conversation, but according to Matus, it isn&#8217;t the last one we&#8217;ll have on the issue.</p><p>&#8220;What about Microsoft? Linux? Red Hat? Theres plenty of other moments in our lives where there&#8217;s privacy concerns, so it&#8217;s not just an Apple thing,&#8221; Matus said. &#8220;That&#8217;s maybe the immediate short-term question, but I think it begs a much larger philosophical question about the role of government and the (level of) intrusiveness that is appropriate.&#8221;</p><p><em>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dr. Justin Matus, associate dean of Wilkes University&#8217;s Sidhu School of Business. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_matus-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dr. Justin Matus, associate dean of Wilkes University&#8217;s Sidhu School of Business. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Curran-Joseph-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dr. Joseph Curran, chair of Misericordia University&#8217;s Religious Studies Department and executive director of the Ethics Institute of Northeastern Pennsylvania. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Curran-Joseph-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Dr. Joseph Curran, chair of Misericordia University&#8217;s Religious Studies Department and executive director of the Ethics Institute of Northeastern Pennsylvania. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_19-year-old-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">19 year-old Swoyersville resident Kyle Schimmel. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_19-year-old-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>19 year-old Swoyersville resident Kyle Schimmel. </caption2><photoCredit2>Gene Axton | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Kingston-Lady-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">73 year-old Kingston resident Gerry DuBoice. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Kingston-Lady-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>73 year-old Kingston resident Gerry DuBoice. </caption3><photoCredit3>Gene Axton | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021716Iphone1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A security feature in the Apple iPhone&#8217;s operating system, which can automatically wipe the phone&#8217;s memory in the event too many incorrect passwords are entered, is at the center of a legal battle between the California-based tech giant and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021716Iphone1-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>A security feature in the Apple iPhone&#8217;s operating system, which can automatically wipe the phone&#8217;s memory in the event too many incorrect passwords are entered, is at the center of a legal battle between the California-based tech giant and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. </caption4><photoCredit4>Photo illustration by Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021716Iphone2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A security feature in the Apple iPhone&#8217;s operating system, which can automatically wipe the phone&#8217;s memory in the event too many incorrect passwords are entered, is at the center of a legal battle between the California-based tech giant and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_TTL021716Iphone2.jpg</photo5><caption5>A security feature in the Apple iPhone&#8217;s operating system, which can automatically wipe the phone&#8217;s memory in the event too many incorrect passwords are entered, is at the center of a legal battle between the California-based tech giant and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. </caption5><photoCredit5>Photo illustration by Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Request for privacy-shattering OS puts digital safety at the forefront of public consciousness</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com and Eugene Axton</p><p>gaxton@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNewsReach Gene Axton at 570-991-6121 or on Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

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Apple is taking on the FBI, and your privacy is at stake; here’s what you’re saying