By Batala Aristide
On a bright December day, Californians in the Department of Public Health were
preparing for an eventful day. The location of a training event followed by a
holiday party would be the highlight of the occasion but things drastically went
left. Little did they know that a disgruntled co-worker and his wife would go on a
malicious rampage ultimately taking the lives of 14 people and injuring 22 others
in the process. The act could be described as martyrdom or terrorism depending on
who you ask. But the outlier as a result of this horrific shooting is not the terrorists
themselves-but their phones.
The San Bernardino shooting was one of a few instances of mass killings last year,
but it was the one that focused mainly on the issue of privacy-in regards to how the
Federal government is handling the motives of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen
Malik-the San Bernardino shooters. Farook had an I-phone 5C and that prompted
the FBI to ask the assistance of Apple, inc. to create a similar version of the iOS-
Operating System to access the memory of the shooters’ phone.
The past few weeks have caused uproar in regards to whether or not it is
Constitutional for the government to pry into the phone records of individuals,
even if they are suspected terrorists, one that has even Apple CEO Tim Cook
hardening his core.
Some folks believe the definition of terrorism in of itself needs to be better
explained. Darnell Harris, a Political Science major attending Plattsburgh State
goes into more detail. “I think the government needs to better define terrorism and
who they call terrorists. Anyone can be a terrorist. There are European terrorist,
Black terrorist, Spanish terrorists” said Harris.
The question prompted Harris to recall an incident when traveling to Florida and
going through another round of searches after he had already gotten through metal
detectors. “I think they do that just to target Blacks and Muslims.
Harris has had his I-phone for six years and he still does not believe in the notion
of privacy. “There was never any privacy. They have been tapping our phones for
years” said Harris.
Some people agree with Harris’ sentiments. Logan Yandow, an up-and-coming
musician from Vermont believes that a situation such as the one with the Federal
Government and Apple can prompt a consolidation of information, like a new-aged
Orwellian nightmare. “I feel like they’re just trying to set precedence. It’s just
going to be a complete ownership of information”. On the subject of terrorism
Yandow says “We create terrorists, we are the biggest terrorists”.
Markus Dixon, a Criminal Justice major who has been watching the case closely
has a premise similar to Yandows; one that begs to ask, who really is a terrorist?
“If we commit terrorism, how can we police it? Two wrongs don’t make a right,”
said Dixon.
Not everyone believes the FBI is entirely wrong, as a matter of fact Kozue
Takahashi, a TV/Video production major who has had a I-phone since she was 19
believes the FBI is taking the necessary measures to catch said terrorists. “If they
can truly prevent terrorism then I agree” said Takahashi. Kozue is an international
student and she is cognizant of the hot button issue of privacy in American life,
whether she will be affected by it personally takahashi insures “if they want to see
my phone, go ahead. I have nothing to hide” she said.
In recent days, the government has informed the public they have unlocked the I-
phone via a third party. Whether this argument was about catching terrorists or
accessing private information, something Edward Snowden reminded people a few
years ago; regardless of your stance in this debate and whether you like Apple
products or not-this case in moral indignation has caused many people to Think
Different.
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