When deciding to write a letter to a politician I immediately thought of writing to my governor because of his position in American politics. We decided to write a letter to Governor John Kasich. He is my governor and is currently in the 2016 presidential race. He has not shared many of his opinions on the topic of encryption and privacy so we thought it would be a good opportunity to write to him and share our thoughts. In one of the presidential debates he was asked about the Apple-FBI case and his answer quickly dismissed the question before he switched to talking about military privacy. I support him as my governor and as a presidential candidate, so I wanted to know more about his thoughts on the issue and express my own opinions and knowledge on the matter.
I have a couple of views on the issue of encryption that sometimes seem to contradict one another. I believe that privacy is very important, especially as people start to put more and more of their sensitive information in digital form. I also feel that citizens should have a right to maintain their own privacy in whatever way they choose. Before encryption existed there were no limits on the types of vaults or safes people could keep files in. Just because we are moving to digital doesn’t mean the restrictions should be any different. If the government wants access to something then they need to figure a way to access it. That is on them. I do not believe that they should be allowed to force Apple or any company to do their work for them. That has the ability to turn very big government very quickly. If the government wants to hire another company to try and break into a phone then they should be allowed to do that, but I don’t like any form of bullying by the government.
I do not have much sensitive information yet, so I am not huge on the topic of encryption as it relates to politics, finances, or other matters. However, I do think that you can tell a lot about a person based on how they feel about privacy and encryption. I believe in the freedom of the American people, but I also feel that people shouldn’t have anything to hide from their government. People tend to get very closed off when they feel their privacy is being invaded (rightfully so) but I don’t think my privacy is invaded when the government has access to my phone/computer/etc. What is there to hide? I don’t think the government is individually looking at my texts. They are scanning for potential terrorist threats and harmful information. If we allow the government access to this information then it could save lives. I acknowledge that this seems very big government, but I don’t think the government should force people to give them access, but if the government finds a way to see it then I think they should go for it.
I think personal privacy will ultimately stay ahead in this battle, but I think it will be a forever ongoing battle. The government will want more access, and if they get it then companies will come out with more secure options to avoid information gain. If the government wins over Apple then Apple will ensure that their future products are IMPOSSIBLE to break into. It’s a simple game of cat and mouse.
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