{"id":913,"date":"2016-03-22T09:34:56","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T14:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=913"},"modified":"2016-03-22T09:34:56","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T14:34:56","slug":"fbiphone-and-coders-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/03\/22\/fbiphone-and-coders-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"FBiPhone and Coders\u2019 Free Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by Faris Algosaibi, Flickr CC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The FBI now says they <\/span>may <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> need Apple\u2019s help<\/span><\/a> to break into a terrorist\u2019s iPhone, but for months they have insisted Apple\u2019s programmers must write a program enabling them to bypass security on this and other Apple devices. The demand raised questions about security and surveillance in a time of rapid technological change. Apple\u2019s refusal to comply stemmed from both a philosophical stance on privacy and concerns that such a program could easily be exploited. The company and its programmers further argued that <\/span>code should be covered by free speech protections<\/span><\/a>—no one can be forced to write code against their will. Sociological research shows how assumptions about the objectivity of computer code work against arguments like Apple\u2019s and how these assumptions are often used to legitimize the policing of already marginalized populations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s concerns about controlling how and when a \u201cbreak-in\u201d program gets used are valid. Not only can it fall into the hands of hackers and the like, technologies like this can be used by law enforcement to maintain social inequalities and reinforce harmful stereotypes. Sociologists show how computer code and surveillance technologies are not value-neutral, but are instead composed of the values and opinions of those who write and use them. The result is that the police often use these presumably objective technologies to justify intrusive policing of the already at-risk. <\/span><\/h5>\n