“I am way on civil liberties side of this thing” President Barack Obama said today regarding the balance between privacy and security surrounding the FBI’s ongoing fight with Apple about penetrating encryption. While speaking today at SXSW, Obama said he could not comment directly on the Apple-San Bernardino shooter case, but gave these remarks on the larger issue:
“All of us value our privacy, and this is a society that is built on a Constitution and a Bill Of Rights and a healthy skepticism about overreaching government power. Before smartphones were invented and to this day, if there is probable cause to think that you have abducted a child, or that you are engaging in a terrorist plot, or you are guilty of some serious crime, law enforcement can appear at your doorstep and say we have a warrant to search you home and can go into your bedroom and bedroom drawers to rifle through your drawers to see if there’s any evidence of wrongdoing.
And we agree on that because we recognize that to keep our other rights, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, we’re going to have impose limitations to ensure we’re safe, secure and living in a civilized society.
Technology is evolving so rapidly that new questions are being asked, and I’m of the view that there are very real reasons that the government can not just get wily-nilly to get into everyone’s iPhones or smartphones that are full of very private or very personal information.”
We”ll have more on Obama’s remarks shortly
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