Legal Aspects of Privacy and Security: A Case- Study of Apple versus FBI Arguments

The debate regarding privacy versus security has been going on for some time now. The matter is complicated due to the fact that the concept of privacy is a subjective phenomenon, shaped by several factors such as cultural norms or geographical location. In a paradoxical situation, rapid advancements in technology are fast making the technology both the guardian and invader of the privacy. Governments and organizations around the globe are using technology to achieve their objectives in the name of security and convenience. It appears that sporadic fights of the proponents of privacy and security had eventually found an avenue to express their opinions i.e. the USA court system. In February 2016, FBI was able to obtain a court order requiring Apple to modify the security features of an iPhone to enable the law enforcement agency access the contents of the device. Apple, backed by other leading technology firms, had vehemently opposed the idea and intended to file a legal appeal against the court order. Before both parties could present their arguments in the court, the case was dropped by FBI as it claimed that it was able to access the contents of the device without Apple’s assistance. By using FBI vs. Apple as a case-study, this paper discusses different legal aspects of the opinions of both parties. With the pervasiveness of advanced technology, it can be reasonably anticipated that such requests by law enforcement and government agencies will become more frequent. The paper presents the privacy concerns that should be taken into consideration regarding all such requests.