Imagine the government knowing everything about you, being able to tap in whenever they please. In fact, not just the government, but hackers, terrorists, anyone tech savvy enough to break in. This would compromise everything, letting anyone with the skills to access your photos, personal information, conversations, everything. Anything that you keep on your iPhone would be compromised to anyone with the technical ability to break in. The hacker would know everything about you, your family, possibly your friends. Everything.

This is what the FBI and the federal government have asked of Apple, to create a new operating system for the iPhone, which would create a backdoor to get into anything held within the iPhone. They have asked this because of the San Bernardino terrorist attack that took place in December, but with this proposal, the government has overstepped its bounds by just asking this preposterous request. This backdoor, which doesn’t currently exist, would allow anyone within the government to access your records kept on your phone. It’s said that the government would only use this in the San Bernardino investigation, but as Apple has stated, there is no proof to show that this is truly the case. If the government were to use this for other purposes, it would be a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that the privacy of the citizenry shall not be infringed by the government. Apple has stated that what each customer keeps on their iPhone is none of their business and seemingly none of the government’s business.

Google CEO Calls FBI’s Request for Apple Backdoor ‘A Troubling Precedent’ https://t.co/ZafFHky3se by @julipuli

— MacRumors.com (@MacRumors) February 18, 2016

Again, if Apple were to create this, there would be no stopping a backdoor from being created. Not only would this allow the government into the private areas of Apple users lives, as it’s simply not possible to create this for just the phone used in the San Bernardino attack according to Apple, but this would allow hackers the opportunity to break into the information of Apple’s customers. Also, this is the government getting involved with a private business, trying to force its unruly hand upon Apple’s operations. This is overstepping the constitutional bounds put forth by the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that any powers not given to the federal government in the Constitution are to fall to the state governments. With no mention of private business in the Constitution, the federal government and the FBI have absolutely no right whatsoever to force what they want upon Apple.

There is no purpose behind scolding Apple for their behavior, they are in the right here, no matter how you look at it. In fact, Apple should be praised for their devotion to the privacy of their customers, not scolded. The ones in the wrong are those within the federal government and the FBI. Apple has done nothing wrong, and have completely complied with the federal government and the FBI in the San Bernardino investigation up to this point. But they have declined to create a backdoor, declined to create a new breach in the iOS system that would bring a threat to customer security. We must commend Apple for their protection of their customers, not condemn them for refusing to comply with the government’s dictatorial attempts to bypass security of Apple users and violate the very principles that the country has been founded on. Refusing to comply with the government’s attempts to overreach their constitutional bounds.