h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today, children, I spent the day writing about how the Enlightenment ended up in the Declaration of Independence. And no, that's not 'the one about the guns'. It's the single most influential document of the 18th Century, and says things like 'life, liberty and pursuit of happiness' and 'consent of the governed'. It also tells King George III to go peddle his wares.

Basic rights, that's what it's all about. Tomorrow, I will be writing about Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the English Bill of Rights, followed by the Mayflower Compact, Penn's Charter, and other landmarks of human freedom.

So what do I find on my interwebs?

'Should the Authorities Be Able to Access Your iPhone?'

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/us/politics/whether-phones-should-lock-out-the-fbi.html?_r=0

We KNOW the answer to that. The All Writs Act of 1789, indeed. Pah.

Let's explain this to the FBI in words of few syllables. I'll even add Word Assists, just like I do for vocabulary-challenged students:

If Apple [Apple: a major computer company whose symbol is an apple] follows the federal court's instructions and creates an algorithm [algorithm: computer process to solve a problem] that allows the FBI [FBI: intrusive US interstate police force] to access [access: get into and snoop around in] a terrorist's iPhone, it will also be allowing everybody else with that algorithm to get into anybody else's iPhone anywhere in the world. This might include:

- other terrorists
- criminal hackers
- totalitarian governments and their secret police forces
- aliens from outer space (well, okay, only if they're like the ones in 'Independence Day' and use compatible software)
- Julian Assange

Multiple choice question: Which of these outcomes are likely to result from giving a government agency access to private information on the grounds that 'It's there, and we can't stand not having it - besides, those are Bad People'?

a. Good People will not be able to guard their privacy.
b. Totalitarian governments will have another tool to use against their populace.
c. Democracy will be dealt another blow, making the 18th Century look like the 'good old days'.
d. The US government will want to put permanent traces on ALL phones and computers next.

Check all that apply.

Here's another article on the subject:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/apple-ceo-tim-cook-fires-back-at-fbi-over-iphone-unlocking-order-219365

e. All the above...