A new poll shows that Americans may be evenly divided in their opinions on the continuing case between Apple and the FBI. The poll, conducted by The Wall Street Journal and NBC, asked 1,200 respondents if they were more worried that the government not going far enough in monitoring the communications of terrorism suspects, or if they worried that the government would go too far. About 47% said they feared that the government wouldn't go far enough, while 44% worried that they would go too far.
From The Wall Street Journal:
The poll also broke down the results by party affiliation. Among Republicans, 57% were more concerned the government wouldn't go far enough to protect national security, compared with 37% who were concerned the government might overreach. Democrats had a similar split, but in the opposite direction: 50% worried the government would go too far, while 40% worried it wouldn't go far enough.
The case between Apple and the FBI concerns the iPhone 5c of one of the San Bernardino shooters, which the FBI wants Apple to help them unlock, which the company is resisting, saying that the creation of a tool to do so would set a dangerous precedent. When the case between the Bureau and Apple started, public support seemed to be clearly on the side of the government, though sentiment has seemed to slowly tip towards Apple fairly recently.
Reader comments
Public support for Apple growing in encryption clash with the FBI
I'm all for unlocking the ONE phone, but the FBI doesn't seem to be content with that, so F'em
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it only takes time for people to realize what the real issue is, and also realize this is the FBI crying Wolf!
Encourage all companies and our government to improve security and not create back-doors and weaken security efforts. Don't let the FBI set a precedent to be used against other phones, other companies, and--worse--allow all governments to make similar demands.
Please won't you join me in signing the White House "FBI vs Apple" petition at http://1.usa.gov/1R9A4cM
This petition alone disputes that support is increasing. There has been about 100 new sigs in the last 4 days and won't make the 100k goal.
How does what happens in the FBI-Apple case affect "other governments"? The FBI can't tell them what to do.
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