Watch Republicans Marco Rubio & Ted Cruz side with FBI in Apple encryption debate

Posted:
in General Discussion edited August 2020
At the last Republican debate before the "Super Tuesday" primaries, the remaining candidates for U.S. president said they believe Apple should help the FBI unlock the iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Ben Carson were all asked about the iPhone encryption debate at a debate hosted by CNN and Telemundo Thursday night, and all four of them sided with the FBI. Frontrunner Donald Trump was not questioned on the issue, though he has already called for a boycott of Apple until it complies with government requests to help unlock the handset. Perhaps most surprising was Rubio's response, given that the senator from Florida had previously said that the complex issue required thoughtful debate. But on Thursday, he took a more hardline approach against Apple. "Apple doesn't want to do it, because they think it hurts their brand," Rubio said. "Well let me tell you, their brand is not superior to the national security of the United States of America."
Sen. Cruz of Texas said he agrees with Apple's "broad policy" that there should not be backdoor access to any iPhone. But he believes that the company should do everything it can to gain access to the iPhone 5c involved in the San Bernardino shooting. "We should enforce the court order, and find out everyone that terrorist at San Bernardino talked to on the phone, texted with, emailed," Cruz said. "And Apple absolutely doesn't have a right to defy a valid court order." Moderate candidate and former Ohio governor Kasich took a softer approach, laying blame on President Barack Obama for not brokering a deal in private. "Where has the president been? You sit down in a back room, and you sit down with the parties, and you get this worked out," Kasich said. "You don't litigate this on the front page of the New York Times, where everybody in the world is reading about their dirty laundry out here." Finally, retired neurosurgeon Carson said he believes Apple will ultimately be compelled to unlock the iPhone for the FBI. "I would expect Apple to comply with the court order," Carson said. "If they don't comply with that, you're encouraging chaos in our system." A U.S. magistrate judge has ordered Apple to comply with FBI requests to help extract data owned by one of the shooters involved in the December terrorist attack. The device in question is a passcode-protected iPhone 5c the FBI seeks to unlock. Apple, however, has fought back, saying the only way to unlock the handset would be to create a backdoor to iOS -- something that does not currently exist. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has said creating such a tool would set a bad precedent and potentially expose mobile devices to security issues.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 101
    Screw him and all politicians who don't "get" that this is a constitutional matter. And this certainly includes the Democrats as well.
    ewtheckmanequality72521designrpalominelostkiwiindyfxjony0tallest skil
  • Reply 2 of 101
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,120member
    sog35 said:
    Unreal how ignorant these guys are about technology and the constitution.
    Especially the constitution.
    frankielostkiwiiSRSjony0
  • Reply 3 of 101
    sog35 said:
    Unreal how ignorant these guys are about technology and the constitution.
    Is it though?
    iosenthusiast
  • Reply 4 of 101
    snovasnova Posts: 1,281member
    Rubio sure did a 180 of this point, wow.  They all need to take a better look at the latest polls before they open their mouth.  
    suddenly newtonbadmonk
  • Reply 5 of 101
    Really is sad that the US "Leaders" are this blind. I get that they only want to "solve" this situation by gaining access to the information in this "one phone", but time and time again, that level of power has been abused, and Apple is absolutely right to prevent that from happening. Once the means is created, it will be abused. Guaranteed. Power corrupts.

    I think the discussion needs to continue. Maybe Apple needs to create a special "FBI Lab" at their own headquarters where the FBI can come and have phones cracked. Don't release that outside of Apple's reach. That would keep everyone happy, right?
    kevin kee
  • Reply 6 of 101
    We do need to get this figured out, but because we're having the debate after an extremely horrific event that draws out heavy emotions, the debate is unlikely to be civil and objective.  

    The Constitution DOES guarantee privacy and protection from an overreaching government.  However, the Fourth Amendment allows the government to perform reasonable "search and seizure."   As we move to a digital world, we're going to have to figure out how this concept fairly applies.  

    If this were a proactive debate, instead of a reactive one, it would be much easier to come to common ground.  My thought at least.  But, we're seeing a ton of polarity in the debate (thanks to politicians preying on emotions) and, as a result, there is little chance of an amicable resolution.

     I don't agree with the FBI's first pass at trying to solve the problem, but I do think they need to be able to access critical evidentiary data that could put disgusting criminals away for life, or that could save many innocent lives.  We've got to figure out how to effectively compartmentalize information to limit access when a Constitutionally-appropriate warrant is granted by the judiciary.  
    edited February 2016 ǂǂǂǂǂpscooter63dasanman69
  • Reply 7 of 101
    What a disappointment. Now it would seem that no candidate in either party truly values the constitution, and the protection of privacy, freedom & liberty. Very disappointed.
    palominelostkiwiindyfxkevin keebadmonk
  • Reply 8 of 101
    snova said:
    Rubio sure did a 180 of this point, wow.  They all need to take a better look at the latest polls before they open their mouth.  
    My suspicion is this is his last ditch attempt at appealing to the "law and order" and "USA! USA! USA!" crowd with some red meat before he crashes and burns on Super Tuesday. He's essentially done at this point, as is Cruz. Trump is virtually guaranteed the nomination.
    edited February 2016 lostkiwi
  • Reply 9 of 101
    fracfrac Posts: 480member
    Well in an age when financially backed lobbying is the norm, all these candidates have done is just lay out their open envelope-invitations.
    lostkiwi
  • Reply 10 of 101
    koopkoop Posts: 337member
    Rubio will say anything and run away from all prior sponsored bills to become president. 

    So nothing new here.
    badmonk
  • Reply 11 of 101
    snovasnova Posts: 1,281member
    I can see it now with s similar quote coming out of China and Russia.  "Apple's brand is not superior to the security of countries. Thr spread of propogonda freely is illegal and is a crime. Apple must modify their OS to give us access to this kind of communication. "

    Oh and yes, those presidents will do it behind closed doors just as suggested. I'm sure those conversations have already happened. 
    edited February 2016 SpamSandwichlostkiwi
  • Reply 12 of 101
    frac said:
    Well in an age when financially backed lobbying is the norm, all these candidates have done is just lay out their open envelope-invitations.
    What do you mean "financially backed lobbying"? All lobbying is done in order to receive preferential treatment. All of it. And none of it is free. The alternative to lobbying is getting railroaded by a competitor or special interest whose interests conflict with your own. Look at what has happened to the technology sector in the absence of concerted lobbying efforts. It's all been bad.
    edited February 2016 ewtheckman
  • Reply 13 of 101
    sog35 said:
    Unreal how ignorant these guys are about technology and the constitution.
    You are the ignorant one.  This is a matter that all candidates agree must be resolved by courts, or by legislation.  There is nothing in the constitution that even references this sort of thing, the vast majority of Americans understand that and support the FBI on this matter. Apple is only being asked to allow the FBI to log into one phone, a phone that was used by a mass murderer, end of story.  Your telephone conversations with your girlfriend are still going to be private.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 14 of 101
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    I saw no one agreeing with Apple in this video. These Republicans are anti-freedom. If you talk and act like this the terrorists have won.
    jfc1138frankiepalominelostkiwinolamacguymatrix077badmonk
  • Reply 15 of 101
    mknelson said:
    sog35 said:
    Unreal how ignorant these guys are about technology and the constitution.
    Especially the constitution.
    You mean like the politicians who've found a "constitutional" right to kill, but can't find a constitutional right to own a gun?

    The candidates are wrong, not because they don't understand the Constitution, but because they don't understand encryption. Heck, even Bill "Microsoft" Gates gets it wrong! How could you expect a mere politician to get it right?
    lostkiwibadmonk
  • Reply 16 of 101
    sog35 said:
    Unreal how ignorant these guys are about technology and the constitution.
    I agree.  But once Apple CEO can provide an interview to NBC, get on CNN or FoxNews we'll know how the true value of the ABC Nightly News Interview.  


    Just Remember--Bob Iger, CEO of Disney; (Disney owns ABC Network) is a also a Board-level Director at Apple.  So Tim Cook didn't have to travel very far from his office to get an interview on TV. 

    lostkiwibadmonk
  • Reply 17 of 101
    photoshop59 said:

    You are the ignorant one.  This is a matter that all candidates agree must be resolved by courts, or by legislation.  There is nothing in the constitution that even references this sort of thing, the vast majority of Americans understand that and support the FBI on this matter. Apple is only being asked to allow the FBI to log into one phone, a phone that was used by a mass murderer, end of story.  Your telephone conversations with your girlfriend are still going to be private.
    Apparently you missed the other article on AppleInsider today where James Comey admitted, "Okay, it's not just one phone."
    equality72521SpamSandwichpscooter63lostkiwikevin keebadmonk
  • Reply 18 of 101
    Republicans claim to advocate:
      1. Small government
      2. Pro-business

    And yet... their positions here are for BIG government in a way that HARMS business (and individual privacy).
    Crazy.
    equality72521frankiecincymacpalominelostkiwisnovabadmonk
  • Reply 19 of 101
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    It's highly doubtful that there's anything on this phone at all. That is just plain common sense. The terrorists completely destroyed 2 other personal phones and a hard drive has disappeared I believe.

    But one work iPhone that wasn't even owned by the terrorists is supposed to have anything valuable on it? Doubtful. Why would they not destroy the iPhone, like they had done to the other phones?

    I still think that the entity that comes off looking the worst in this whole situation is the FBI and the current admin, because they chose to go out and make it public, admitting that they're clueless, that they're incompetent and that they are unable to unlock iPhones.

    I certainly don't trust the govt at all when it comes to anything that might be related to encryption and internet security.
    ewtheckmanjfc1138lostkiwi
  • Reply 20 of 101
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    Appealing a court order isn't the same as defying it.

    I didn't realize Rubio sat on Apple's board. Otherwise how would he know what Apple thinks about its brand? (Christie had it right with his comment, "Oh, so now you're a mind reader?")
    ewtheckmanjfc1138lostkiwibadmonk
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