Only in exceptional cases
Our privacy is more important, especially because using the applications does not fortify us against our information being used by the company that has developed the application. It’s no news that Facebook uses our social behaviour for targeted advertisements, and the potential for using this critical data is huge. But the government’s involvement converts this into an issue of state paranoia. If there are select cases where a device is in contention, like the San Bernardino case, the role of the government in accessing this data can be up for contention. But, this should be a rare exception than the norm. I wouldn’t want my offline and online life to be a testimony of how much of a law abiding a citizen I am.
From Mr Shaikh Rahmatullah
Dubai
Only a temporary solution
I think we need to work on fixing the world and getting rid of the bad instead of restricting and torturing the good by taking away their privacy. Yes, it’s true that criminals can use these end-to-end encrypted apps to their benefit, but you can’t fight a wrong with another wrong. The same way a knife can be used to chop your veggies for dinner, it can be used by a murderer to kill someone. You can’t ban knives, can you?
Terrorism should be fought by education and opening people’s minds – not by restricting everyone. There have always been people who wanted to burn the world. We can’t fix that by hiding in safety bubbles. That’s just running away from the problem. It’s a temporary fix to a very serious problem.
From Mr Morvarid Jalali
Sharjah
I enjoy feeling safe
Security is more important, and governments should have access to it. I can only speak for myself, but I enjoy the secure feeling. It’s not just terrorism, we’re talking about crimes of all sorts.
From Mr Andreas Frey
Dubai
Need to track terrorism
Governments should have access to all these applications to check the conversation content of any resident randomly. This encryption technique only supports terrorism. Nobody knows what militants will plan to attack every day, let’s not help them by making it harder to track their plans.
From Mr Qaiser Iqbal Khattak
Islamabad, Pakistan
Full access won’t stop anyone
Mr Qaiser Iqbal Khattak, no random access would help stop terrorism at all. Rather, it would make every user insecure of what he’s up to legally! No one here wants to be bothered by a third party but, yes, for security reasons the government should be allowed to have access if there is enough evidence and finds it imperative to have the activities of an individual accused of a considerable crime for that. I think legislation is needed to make sure that the government would take full responsibility of the privacy not being exploited.
I believe I don’t see a government being able to have access to public conversations in the near future unless it’s taken the service providers as well as the users into confidence.
Every story has two aspects and so is the case with whether governments should be allowed or not to survey devices. I’d say that governments should have a check on public privacy only if the need to do that is very necessary. Conditionally, they should have the authority to go through as much information as needed for a particular investigation.
From Mr Sahib Imran
UAE
Privacy won’t save you
What’s the use of your privacy if you become a victim of a terrorist act? Can your privacy save you from that? I don’t think so.
From Mr L. M. Destura
Abu Dhabi
Only if serious
Governments should be given access to information. However, in the case of a serious problem only should it be condoned. Otherwise, it feels great to have freedom and privacy.
From Mr Sultan Shihab
UAE
Tricky question
To my knowledge, both are important and a priority. Security is very important and if that has been taken care of, people will feel protected. But what about in the event of any miscreants’ acts? It’s indeed a tricky debate question.
From Mr K. Ragavan
Bengaluru
India
Our privacy is ours
Privacy is more important than security. Leakage of privacy creates many problems, especially in personal and social life matters. Security is better for organisations, not for the common man. Governments need to use other means to protect us. Our privacy is ours.
From Mr Mohammad Zubair Anjum
UAE
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