CEO Tim Cook Opposes Government Back Door to Encryption

By Bradford Richardson, The Hill

21 December 15

pple CEO Tim Cook is defending his opposition to providing intelligence agencies with back doors to access encrypted information on his company’s products.

In the wake of the Paris terrorist attack, in which assailants are believed to have used encrypted devices to avoid government surveillance, politicians and law enforcement agencies have called for measures to prevent tech companies from fully encrypting users’ communications.

But in an interview conducted prior to the attack, Cook said providing a backdoor to encryption would aid both law-enforcement agencies and the terrorists they are working to stop.

“There have been people that suggest that we should have a back door. But the reality is if you put a back door in, that back door's for everybody, for good guys and bad guys,” Cook said in an interview with “60 Minutes” broadcast on Sunday.

Cook has reiterated his support for encryption since the Nov. 13 attack, which left 130 dead.

He said the choice between privacy and national security is a false one.

“I don’t believe the tradeoff here is privacy versus national security,” he said, adding that’s an “overly simplistic view.”

“We’re America. We should have both.”

Several 2016 presidential candidates, including Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), have advocated measures to help intelligence agencies circumvent encryption.