The Apple-FBI Standoff | Institute of Politics

Panelists John Deutch, MIT Emeritus Institute Professor and former CIA Director (1995-96), and Jonathan Zittrain, the George Bemis Professor of International Law at Harvard Law School and Co-Founder, Director and Faculty Chair of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, joined moderator Archon Fung, Academic Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Citizenship, for a panel discussion to reflect on the current standoff between Apple and the FBI regarding the lawsuit by law enforcement to force the technology giant to create a "back door" to access the locked iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter. The panelists discussed the vital, yet often conflicting, values of privacy and security in our democratic and pluralistic society, the role of courts in settling such conflicts and the prudence of establishing a precedent of government-mandated "backdoor" access that could allow for potential future abuse.