i3 - March/April 2016 - 2

From the CEO
UNLOCKING THE FUTURE

hen we first heard that the U.S. government
had gotten a court order forcing Apple to unlock an
iPhone used by domestic terrorists, we had the same
reaction as many Americans. We wanted every tool
possible to be used against terrorism and couldn't
figure out why the FBI and Apple couldn't quietly
reach a deal.

It's about whether
our customers using
products connected
to the Internet can
expect privacy when
information is collected
about their goings
and comings, what
is happening in their
homes and even their
most intimate biological
details.

But as often happens, initial news reports were
wrong. It turns out that Apple had been cooperating with the FBI and giving the government access
to all information from the phone available in the
cloud. However, the government had not explored
technical alternatives to requiring Apple to unlock
the phone. More, the government had made basic
mistakes such as unilaterally changing the password
on the phone, which eliminated the possibility of
accessing online backups. The government also had
several criminal cases where it had asked Apple to
help unlock phones, but had not sought legal action
against Apple. Indeed, it appeared the FBI had
waited for a case which would evoke public sympathy to require Apple to act.
As the public debate became a lead story other
factors emerged. It wasn't simply about opening
a backdoor; it was about forcing Apple to create software it did not have. More, once created,
that software jeopardized the privacy of Apple
software customers. In fact, the consensus of the
security world was that if the FBI could force
Apple to create software to defeat the device shutdown after 10 unsuccessful password tries, then
that same software would be obtained and used
by bad actors to hack security on other encrypted
products and systems.
Your association, CTA, engaged on the issue. We
joined the tech community and supported Apple's
position publicly, through an opinion piece, as well
as by supporting an amicus brief in the case. More,
we supported bi-partisan calls for Congress to dis-

cuss these issues and establish clear policies, rather
than a court's relying on an act more than a century
old.
The stakes are big. It's not just about Apple and
its customers or even about smartphone and tablet
makers and the privacy their customers rely upon.
It's about whether our customers using products
connected to the Internet can expect privacy when
information is collected about their goings and comings, what is happening in their homes and even
their most intimate biological details.
The Internet of Things is in its infancy and will
transform the human condition. But this transformation relies on the collection of data that will
improve how people live, work and play. It will
affect our health. It will affect our lifestyle. It will
affect our well-being and the decisions we make.
But if people are not confident that their data is
secure, then our potential customers will be less
interested in our products, investors and retailers
will be less likely to take a risk on these products
and many useful products which could change the
human condition will not be invented, introduced
or made available to those whose lives could be
improved.
Certainly there is a lot at stake. We have to fight
terrorism. Indeed, the tech industry can offer a lot
through facial recognition, voice analysis, facial
micro cues and behavioral analysis to predict and
identify terrorists. But giving our government, other
governments and bad guys the ability to break the
security on devices is a dangerous precedent. It is
one we must resist if we are going to encourage the
Internet of Things to grow and provide the data and
analysis to make us healthier, safer, energy efficient,
and improve our lives in unlimited ways.
This is not about Apple. It is about our future
innovation path and we need a national discussion
on why privacy and security are complimentary not
antagonistic.

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO

MAY/JUNE 2016

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i3 - March/April 2016

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