Description: The legal tussle between Apple and the FBI over a locked iPhone, and the security weakening measures the security services want the iOS maker to take to help it extract data on the device, has now attracted comment from the UN’s commissioner for human rights.

Source: Tech Crunch

Date: March 4, 2016

Representatives for both sides of the Apple vs FBI argument were called to Congress earlier this week to give testimony in a hearing entitled “The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans’ Security and Privacy” — which has led to some bizarre claims from the pro-unlocking camp as they seek to justify forcing Apple to create a less secure version of iOS.

Weighing into the debate today on Apple’s side of the argument, with a robust public statement in support of encryption, the UN’s Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein argues that privacy is a pre-requisite for security, and calls for clear red lines to protect personal data in the digital age.

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Questions for discussion:

1. Why is privacy essential for security?

2. What are some example scenarios of “lives being endangered without encryption tools”?