RIVERSIDE >> The FBI’s announcement that they may have found a way to hack the iPhone used by the gunman in the San Bernardino terrorist attack without Apple Inc., has not ended the debate over digital security and encryption.

Members of Fight for the Future — a digital rights group — and the American Civil liberties Union held a demonstration Tuesday outside the U.S. District Court in Riverside to share comments collected from more than 20,000 Internet users who oppose Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym’s Feb. 16 order compelling Apple Inc. to develop software for the FBI that would allow investigators to hack into Syed Farook’s work-issued iPhone.

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“What we’re doing is educating the public and decisionmakers that weakening encryption technology actually makes us less safe, not more safe,” Evan Greer, campaign director for Fight for the Future, said.

“It’s very important to understand that encryption is what protects our hospitals, our airports, our power plants and our water treatment facilities. If we allow the government to set a precedent that they can force private companies to undermine those security protocols that keep all of us safe, it’s actually going to make us more vulnerable to the types of attacks that the government says they’re trying to prevent.”

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On Dec. 2, Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, shot and killed 14 people and wounded 22 others at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

Apple Inc. and the U.S. Department of Justice were scheduled to be in court today, but the government requested the hearing be delayed.

According to a written statement Monday from Melanie Newman, Department of Justice spokeswoman, an outside party on Sunday demonstrated to the FBI a possible method of unlocking the iPhone.

The government is “cautiously optimistic” it will be able to unlock the phone, but the proposed method first needs to be tested, according to Newman’s statement.

The Justice Department is expected to update the court on its progress by April 5.

Fight for the Future went on with its demonstration as scheduled because the issue is not about getting into this one iPhone, Greer said, it is about the precedent the government is attempting to set.

“If the government can force a phone company to undermine the security of their phone, why can’t they force a car company to undermine the security of their cars so that they could cut the power to someone’s car who they were chasing for example,” Greer said. “Once that technology exists, what’s to stop someone who wishes to do harm from hacking from exploiting that to make all of the cars on the freeway stop or get into a massive car crash? Those are very real possibilities that could happen if we allow the government to set this precedent.”

The comments, which were displayed on a monitor outside the courthouse, were collected through Fight for the Future’s #SaveSecurity campaign, which launched earlier this month.

“Don’t open the door for criminals — find another route — keep our phones secure!,” read a comment from Maya J. in California.

“Why is that even an issue. You know it’s wrong and yet you want to force this on a private company and the citizens of the U.S.? Unthinkable. Represent the citizens and their right to privacy. This is ridiculous,” read a comment from Aaron H. in Alabama.

Fight for the Future was behind nearly 50 protests held Feb. 23 outside FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. and Apple stores.

Technology security advocates and iPhone users carried giant iPhone shaped banners with the message “Secure Phones Save Lives.”