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Apple at center stage of Republican presidential debate over encryption & national security

Apple’s strong position on privacy and encryption has been at odds with the United States government’s pressure to step up its national security efforts in the wake of recent terrorist attacks across the globe. In short, iPhones are encrypted to protect customer data from prying eyes, and law enforcement agencies believe that gives criminals a safe haven for communication that can’t be traced.

The Obama administration including the former and current attorney general and FBI director have strongly voiced opposition to Apple’s position, and Tim Cook reportedly pressed the White House to back strong encryption as recently as this week. So it’s no surprise that Tim Cook and Apple came up at the end of last night’s Republican presidential debate hosted by the Fox Business channel where at least one candidate was asked to address his position on the subject.

Specifically, Apple Watch aficionado and former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who responded similarly to how the current administration has thus far, was asked how he’d handle Tim Cook and encryption by Fox Business host Neil Cavuto. Let’s take a look at his response with a little help from TIME’s transcript:

CAVUTO: Governor Bush, fears have gripped this country obviously, and you touched on it earlier since the San Bernardino attacks. Since our last debate, the national conversation has changed, according to Facebook data as well.

Now this first graphic shows the issues that were most talked about right before those attacks and now after: the issues of Islam, homeland security and ISIS now loom very large. The FBI says Islamic radicals are using social media to communicate and that it needs better access to communication. Now the CEO of Apple, Governor, Tim Cook said unless served with a warrant private communication is private, period. Do you agree, or would you try to convince him otherwise?

BUSH: I would try to convince him otherwise, but this last back and forth between two senators — back bench senators, you know, explains why we have the mess in Washington, D.C. We need a president that will fix our immigration laws and stick with it, not bend with the wind.

The simple fact is one of the ways, Maria, to solve the problem you described is narrow the number of people coming by family petitioning to what every other country has so that we have the best and the brightest that come to our country. We need to control the border, we need to do all of this in a comprehensive way, not just going back and forth and talking about stuff —

CAVUTO: Would you answer this question?

BUSH: Oh, I’ll talk about that, too. But you haven’t asked me a question in a while, Neil, so I thought I’d get that off my chest if you don’t mind.

(LAUGHTER)

Governor Bush did add that Apple should have some “liability release” if loosening encryption goes bad, although Tim Cook’s stake on privacy thus far seems more about principle and not lawsuits. (My guess is it might be legally more tricky in the case of law enforcement as we’re seeing play out.)

CAVUTO: Fair enough. So Tim Cook — so Tim Cook says he’s going to keep it private.

BUSH: I got that. And the problem today is there’s no confidence in Washington, D.C. There needs to be more than one meeting, there needs to complete dialogue with the large technology companies. They understand that there’s a national security risk. We ought to give them a little bit of a liability release so that they share data amongst themselves and share data with the federal government, they’re not fearful of a lawsuit.

We need to make sure that we keep the country safe. This is the first priority. The cybersecurity challenges that we face, this administration failed us completely, completely. Not just the hacking of OPM, but that is — that is just shameful. 23 million files in the hands of the Chinese? So it’s not just the government — the private sector companies, it’s also our own government that needs to raise the level of our game.

We should put the NSA in charge of the civilian side of this as well. That expertise needs to spread all across the government and there needs to be much more cooperation with our private sector.

CAVUTO: But if Tim cook is telling you no, Mr. President.

BUSH: You’ve got to keep asking. You’ve got to keep asking because this is a hugely important issue. If you can encrypt messages, ISIS can, over these platforms, and we have no ability to have a cooperative relationship —

Governor Bush then alluded to that idea that even if the US government required Apple to open up its tight encryption and let law enforcement officials peek at data, there’d still be the issue of terrorists using foreign companies as alternative platforms.

CAVUTO: Do you ask or do you order?

BUSH: Well, if the law would change, yeah. But I think there has to be recognition that if we — if we are too punitive, then you’ll go to other — other technology companies outside the United States. And what we want to do is to control this.

We also want to dominate this from a commercial side. So there’s a lot of balanced interests. But the president leads in this regard. That’s what we need. We need leadership, someone who has a backbone and sticks with things, rather than just talks about them as though anything matters when you’re talking about amendments that don’t even actually are part of a bill that ever passed.

CAVUTO: Governor, thank you.

The bottom line seems to be that this debate isn’t going anywhere, a compromise may not be possible by design, and we’ll continue to see this national conversation continue just as it has for months now. My colleague Ben Lovejoy put his stake in the ground a couple of months ago on the whole debate.

Original image source via CNN

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Comments

  1. The bottom line is I’ve yet to hear from a republican that isn’t dumber than a post and thus third Bush isn’t even as sharp as that – he’s more of a post-hole.

    Seriously, any one of these guys is going to ruin the US. Neither Clinton nor Obama have been been able to fix what the other Bushes have done, so imagine how much worse things will be after another Republican term.

    • zachoblog - 8 years ago

      Oh please….how about we keep this a tech website and not generate shallow statements like this. Zac did a great job at posting where the debate is going in relation to Apple and you should share where you’d like to see the debate go from here.

    • therazorpit - 8 years ago

      LOL, you are a fool if you think either party is watching out for you. Not saying G.W. was the brightest bulb in the drawer but you are also a fool if you think Clinton or Obama are more capable of fixing anything. Sixteen years between the two of them and look at the mess we have.

      At least G.W. had some success in the private sector. Neither Clinton or Obama has spent a day of their lives outside of government, academia, or social organizing.

      Wise up and stop being a tool.

      • Lol..wait.till.november……tears are going to flow for one party. I wonder what the American people will decide. #truth #notthemostimportantelectioninourlifetime #everyonesaysthiseveryelectioncycle #jesusbackyet?

    • louiethelug72 - 8 years ago

      You Are SOOOOOO Right Bruno..!!! You Hit The Nail On The Head…Lol

  2. Jake Becker - 8 years ago

    Catch some terrorists yourselves, pigs

  3. shareef777 - 8 years ago

    Sigh, when politicians think they’re engineers. Terrorists can build bombs, but can’t build a Linux box with their own encryption? Guess what, if they encrypt the data they can use the Internet to send it around and you’d never know it.

  4. WaltFrench - 8 years ago

    Once upon a time, Republicans were all in favor of enforcement of the law, as well as civil liberties written into the Constitution against an overbearing government. Now, they’re the ones both complaining about how the government is too obtrusive AND wanting to bypass Constitutional protections AND write more laws to make it easier for the government to track us.

    All in the name of “security.” They want to monitor more actively than when we were fighting World Wars I and II, when we had LOTS of nationals from our enemies moving around in the US. (And when we locked them up, we increased our security not one iota while insulting the Constitution.)

    I get that the FBI wants to be able to get its hands on anything they can (another source of horrendous abuses of citizens’ rights), but somebody’s got to take a step back and look at the overall good from Americans feeling constantly under the government’s thumb. That led to a revolution 240 years ago. If R’s are so mindful of our traditions, they should wake up and tell us how they’ll actually provide the right amount of government to all.

  5. Don Horne (@DonHorne) - 8 years ago

    In this time of fear mongering I believe Apple and other tech companies should get in front of this, take full page ads in news papers around the country explaining their stance and benefits to users before these flesh puppets convince the majority of americans that the government can be trusted with access to citizens data. Whomever gets to be POTUS next will rely on advisors to make a decision and history has shown that these advisors will skew the truth to get what they want.

  6. iamrefresh - 8 years ago

    They will find other ways to encrypt their communication. All this would do is open the rest of us up to them, and give incredible spy power to the Hoovers out there. Terrorist & criminals could do far more theft, damage, and harm when they figure out how to access a backdoor.

    • JBDragon - 8 years ago

      All a terrorist has to do is send a simple “Go” text and that’s it. No encryption necessary. Plans all worked out in person. The smart terrorists aren’t going to use any service with holes in the security. All the bad guys wanting to steal your Data do and will!!!

      If you create a Back Door into the Encryption, it’s not just the U.S. Government that will gain access. It’s the Criminals, it’s CHINA, and every other Government out there. The Government as it is can’t protect their Data. Create some huge hole in the software for the off chance of catching a few people while leaving the Majority of people not protected, not really, is not even remotely worth it. For more damage will be done with weak security over that of a terrorist.

  7. Bravatar - 8 years ago

    Give us your best and your brightest, your huddled masses of Rhodes scholars, yearning to produce an even more lopsided distribution of wealth.

  8. cameroncovington - 8 years ago

    Jen Bush is such an idiot.

  9. greenbelt2csp - 8 years ago

    I don’t want no “BIG” government impeding my liberty. That’s why I vote Republican. I want to keep America safe, that’s why we need back doors in our software so that our big government can keep up safe. That’s why I vote Republican. Wait a minute…..(head explodes).

    • JBDragon - 8 years ago

      There’s to many RINO’s which is the problem. Really just a wing of the Democrat party!!! I had many issues with the last BUSH acting like a Democrat. This Bush isn’t any better. OBAMA really has pretty much done what the last BUSH did. Many things he tripled down on what BUSH did! For example, where’s CODE PINK? They were all over BUSH for dropping BOMBS, and yet all I hear are crickets when OBAMA has dropped 10 times more bombs on people!!! Or how about the Patriot Act! That was set to expire, but OBAMA not only extended it, but expanded the powers on it!!! It should have just died.

      Clinton should be in Jail for a number of things. None of the choices are very good for President. I’m kind of leaning for TRUMP! He says a lot of dumb things, but clearly he’s no politician. He’ll just say whatever he wants. That in it’s self is something fresh. He’s has experience actually running things unlike OBAMA. He seems like a RINO also, but there’s no real Republican to pick from. The Democrats are so far LEFT, it’s just crazy. John F Kennedy would never get elected these days. He would be considered a crazy right winger these days!!!

  10. aromedia - 8 years ago

    That is pure bullshit. Who really believe that these gov agencies can’t trace whatever, wherever and whenever any iPhone calls? There is always a back door and they have the technology to find it. These agencies are shaking the medias to make us believe the opposite. They’re good…

  11. jramskovk (@jramskovk) - 8 years ago

    “a compromise may not be possible by design”

    May not?! Any person that understands cryptography will tell you that it’s not possible.

  12. chrisl84 - 8 years ago

    All these folks bashing Republicans while Hillarys over here using secret email services mishandling classified and top secret material…..got to love one sided narratives.

  13. freerange5 - 8 years ago

    Fk these clown fish. Do these morons really think an iPhone is going to prevent or cause terrorism. These idiots are clueless! Even if Apple provided a backdoor, the terrorists would find other ways, in fact have, to hide and encrypt communications! We are spending BILLIONS upon BILLIONS on national security – we should expect and demand that they do their jobs with the resources they have! The iPhone is just political clickbait and a diversion from the real issues’

  14. Don Wise (@doncwise) - 8 years ago

    Keeping the political rhetoric at bay and focusing on the topic at hand, the removal of encryption or allowing of a back-door into electronic devices and software will do nothing to stop terrorist activity. Groups concerned about encryption need to stop and think: Today, one can send an encrypted message via U.S. Postal Service in an envelope just as easily as one can send the message electronically. It doesn’t stop the activity, it merely slows it by using other means. Could it be intercepted more easily, yes, but so can electronic messages – it can still be encrypted and only the recipient that has the key would be able to read it.

    Security officials will simply have to adapt and change their tactics to the status quo. It may mean more detective work, more people, better information and surveillance techniques, better screening of people entering the country, and of course, more money to make it happen.

    We cannot trade our liberty in the name of security. To do so starts the slippery slope of a potential police state/nation, and it gets worse from there.

  15. vkd108 - 8 years ago

    I wonder if T Cook was Photoshopped into that article header photo?

    On a lighter note, how wonderful it would be, to encounter the same live lineup in a shooting range scenario, and to have the pleasure of taking out all the target bodies with an automatic rifle.

  16. amagoon - 8 years ago

    If they hadn’t used their NSA to collect wholesale data (not “metadata”) on every single American, it’s possible they wouldn’t be witnessing such an aggressive backlash. Action reaction, Mr Glen.

  17. trinities - 8 years ago

    Safe haven??!?! NSA is able to break up to 4098 bit encryption according to some unknown source (says that they are unable to break 8000bits, but I would doubt that). Never mind, they can decrypt every iPhone out there there is.

  18. therazorpit - 8 years ago

    Didn’t get a chance to watch the democrat debates last night but interested in hearing how this question was answered. Can you please do a summary for us similar to this helpful article?

  19. Fortunately none of these nimrods will ever be called POTUS.

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.