The FBI is trying to compel Apple to break its own iPhone encryption and enable backdoors for law enforcement, ostensibly to decrypt a particular criminal’s iPhone 5c. As iOS security expert @chronic tweeted:

I’m fairly sure that if the iOS version of the iPhone 5c is old enough, exploits could be used (no backdoor!) to do what the FBI is asking.

As we’ve learned from national hero Edward Snowden and, well, almost every other high-profile action taken by law enforcement recently, this most likely has very little to do with the specific crime or iPhone that the FBI is citing in this case.

It’s their excuse to establish precedent and permanent backdoors for themselves so they can illegally spy on anyone’s data whenever they please. They’re shamelessly using a horrible tragedy to get themselves more power.

Like the NSA, they believe that they’re above the law, and the federal government and courts have confirmed that they indeed are. They couldn’t care less that they’re weakening our encryption for others to break as well — they consider that an acceptable casualty. They believe they own us, our property, and our data, all the time.

I commend Apple for standing up to this, but unfortunately, I suspect they’re eventually going to lose. I’d love to be proven wrong, but nobody in the government is protecting our rights anymore, and Americans simply just don’t care enough to compel them to.

Prove me wrong, America.