Pew Research Center has released a study on the dispute between the FBI and Apple. Fifty-one percent of Americans think Apple should assist the FBI and unlock the iPhone 5c while 38 percent of Americans side with Apple.
The iPhone used to belong to one of the suspects in the San Bernardino terrorist attack. When the FBI asked for a backdoor to access data on this phone, Apple’s Tim Cook wrote a letter saying that Apple is protesting the order.
“Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks,” Tim Cook wrote in his original letter.
Since then, many have sided with Apple while others have tried to make Apple comply. The White House said that it was “an important national priority,” the Department of Justice filed a motion explaining its motives and Bill Gates said Apple should unlock the iPhone. Donald Trump agrees.
On the other side, Jack Dorsey, Aaron Levie, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Mark Cuban supported Apple in this case.
According to Pew, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat as there isn’t much of a partisan difference on the issue. But the older you are, the more likely you are to agree with the FBI. 47 percent of people aged between 18 and 29 think Apple should unlock the iPhone — 43 percent disagree. 51 percent of people aged between 50 and 64 think Apple should unlock the iPhone — 27 percent disagree.
So there isn’t a clear majority in favor of Apple or the Department of Justice. And yet, it doesn’t really matter as Apple now has until Friday to comply with the order. There’s certainly a lot of discussions behind the scene and it’s going to be interesting to see whether Apple was right to open this debate or it was all for nothing.
