Your smartphone is a civil rights issue
-
0:00 - 0:03In the spring of 2016,
-
0:03 - 0:07a legal battle between Apple
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation -
0:07 - 0:09captured the world's attention.
-
0:10 - 0:13Apple has built security features
into its mobile products -
0:13 - 0:17which protect data on its devices
from everyone but the owner. -
0:17 - 0:21That means that criminals, hackers
and yes, even governments -
0:22 - 0:23are all locked out.
-
0:24 - 0:26For Apple's customers,
this is a great thing. -
0:27 - 0:29But governments are not so happy.
-
0:29 - 0:31You see, Apple has made
a conscious decision -
0:31 - 0:34to get out of the surveillance business.
-
0:34 - 0:37Apple has tried to make surveillance
as difficult as possible -
0:37 - 0:40for governments and any other actors.
-
0:42 - 0:44There are really two
smartphone operating systems -
0:44 - 0:46in the global smartphone market:
-
0:46 - 0:47iOS and Android.
-
0:48 - 0:51iOS is made by Apple.
Android is made by Google. -
0:51 - 0:55Apple has spent a lot of time and money
-
0:55 - 0:58to make sure that its products
are as secure as possible. -
0:58 - 1:02Apple encrypts all data
stored on iPhones by default, -
1:02 - 1:06and text messages sent from one
Apple customer to another Apple customer -
1:06 - 1:08are encrypted by default
-
1:08 - 1:10without the user having
to take any actions. -
1:11 - 1:12What this means is that,
-
1:12 - 1:16if the police seize an iPhone
and it has a password, -
1:17 - 1:20they'll have a difficult time
getting any data off of it, -
1:20 - 1:22if they can do it at all.
-
1:22 - 1:27In contrast, the security of Android
just really isn't as good. -
1:27 - 1:30Android phones, or at least
most of the Android phones -
1:30 - 1:31that have been sold to consumers,
-
1:31 - 1:34do not encrypt data stored
on the device by default, -
1:34 - 1:39and the built-in text messaging app
in Android does not use encryption. -
1:40 - 1:42So if the police seize an Android phone,
-
1:42 - 1:46chances are, they'll be able to get
all the data they want -
1:46 - 1:47off of that device.
-
1:48 - 1:50Two smartphones
-
1:50 - 1:52from two of the biggest
companies in the world; -
1:52 - 1:54one that protects data by default,
-
1:55 - 1:56and one that doesn't.
-
1:57 - 2:00Apple is a seller of luxury goods.
-
2:00 - 2:02It dominates the high end of the market.
-
2:03 - 2:07And we would expect a manufacturer
of luxury goods to have products -
2:07 - 2:09that include more features.
-
2:10 - 2:12But not everyone can afford an iPhone.
-
2:12 - 2:15That's where Android
really, really dominates: -
2:15 - 2:17at the middle and low end of the market,
-
2:17 - 2:20smartphones for the billion
and a half people -
2:20 - 2:23who cannot or will not spend
-
2:23 - 2:25600 dollars on a phone.
-
2:29 - 2:35But the dominance of Android
has led to what I call -
2:35 - 2:37the "digital security divide."
-
2:37 - 2:40That is, there is now increasingly a gap
-
2:40 - 2:44between the privacy
and security of the rich, -
2:45 - 2:47who can afford devices
that secure their data by default, -
2:48 - 2:49and of the poor,
-
2:50 - 2:55whose devices do very little
to protect them by default. -
2:56 - 2:59So, think of the average Apple customer:
-
3:00 - 3:05a banker, a lawyer,
a doctor, a politician. -
3:05 - 3:11These individuals now increasingly have
smartphones in their pockets -
3:11 - 3:14that encrypt their calls,
their text messages, -
3:14 - 3:16all the data on the device,
-
3:16 - 3:20without them doing really anything
to secure their information. -
3:21 - 3:25In contrast, the poor
and the most vulnerable in our societies -
3:25 - 3:30are using devices that leave them
completely vulnerable to surveillance. -
3:31 - 3:33In the United States, where I live,
-
3:33 - 3:37African-Americans are more likely
to be seen as suspicious -
3:37 - 3:39or more likely to be profiled,
-
3:40 - 3:43and are more likely to be targeted
by the state with surveillance. -
3:44 - 3:47But African-Americans
are also disproportionately likely -
3:47 - 3:50to use Android devices
that do nothing at all -
3:50 - 3:52to protect them from that surveillance.
-
3:53 - 3:54This is a problem.
-
3:56 - 3:58We must remember
that surveillance is a tool. -
3:59 - 4:01It's a tool used by those in power
-
4:02 - 4:04against those who have no power.
-
4:05 - 4:10And while I think it's absolutely great
-
4:10 - 4:13that companies like Apple
are making it easy for people to encrypt, -
4:14 - 4:18if the only people
who can protect themselves -
4:18 - 4:20from the gaze of the government
-
4:20 - 4:21are the rich and powerful,
-
4:22 - 4:23that's a problem.
-
4:24 - 4:27And it's not just a privacy
or a cybersecurity problem. -
4:28 - 4:29It's a civil rights problem.
-
4:31 - 4:34So the lack of default security in Android
-
4:34 - 4:39is not just a problem
for the poor and vulnerable users -
4:39 - 4:41who are depending on these devices.
-
4:41 - 4:44This is actually a problem
for our democracy. -
4:44 - 4:46I'll explain what I mean.
-
4:47 - 4:49Modern social movements
rely on technology -- -
4:49 - 4:55from Black Lives Matter to the Arab Spring
to Occupy Wall Street. -
4:55 - 4:59The organizers of these movements
and the members of these movements -
4:59 - 5:03increasingly communicate
and coordinate with smartphones. -
5:04 - 5:08And so, naturally governments
that feel threatened by these movements -
5:08 - 5:12will also target the organizers
and their smartphones. -
5:13 - 5:16Now, it's quite possible
-
5:16 - 5:20that a future Martin Luther King
or a Mandela or a Gandhi -
5:20 - 5:24will have an iPhone and be protected
from government surveillance. -
5:24 - 5:26But chances are,
-
5:26 - 5:30they'll probably have a cheap,
$20 Android phone in their pocket. -
5:31 - 5:34And so if we do nothing
to address the digital security divide, -
5:35 - 5:38if we do nothing to ensure
that everyone in our society -
5:39 - 5:41gets the same benefits of encryption
-
5:41 - 5:45and is equally able to protect themselves
from surveillance by the state, -
5:45 - 5:50not only will the poor and vulnerable
be exposed to surveillance, -
5:50 - 5:53but future civil rights
movements may be crushed -
5:53 - 5:56before they ever reach
their full potential. -
5:56 - 5:57Thank you.
-
5:57 - 6:00(Applause)
-
6:04 - 6:06Helen Walters: Chris, thank you so much.
-
6:06 - 6:08I have a question for you.
-
6:08 - 6:10We saw recently in the press
-
6:10 - 6:15that Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook
covers over his camera -
6:15 - 6:18and does something
with his headphone mic jack. -
6:18 - 6:21So I wanted to ask you
a personal question, which is: -
6:21 - 6:22Do you do that?
-
6:22 - 6:25And, on behalf of everyone
here, particularly myself, -
6:25 - 6:26Should we be doing that?
-
6:26 - 6:28Should we be covering these things?
-
6:28 - 6:32Christopher Soghoian: Putting a sticker --
actually, I like Band-Aids, -
6:32 - 6:34because you can remove them
and put them back on -
6:34 - 6:36whenever you want to make
a call or a Skype call. -
6:36 - 6:38Putting a sticker over your web cam
-
6:38 - 6:41is probably the best thing
you can do for your privacy -
6:41 - 6:42in terms of bang for buck.
-
6:42 - 6:46There really is malware,
malicious software out there -
6:46 - 6:48that can take over your web cam,
-
6:48 - 6:50even without the light turning on.
-
6:50 - 6:53This is used by criminals.
This is used by stalkers. -
6:53 - 6:58You can buy $19.99 "spy
on your ex-girlfriend" software online. -
6:58 - 6:59It's really terrifying.
-
6:59 - 7:02And then, of course,
it's used by governments. -
7:02 - 7:05And there's obviously
a sexual violence component to this, -
7:05 - 7:09which is that this kind of surveillance
can be used most effectively -
7:09 - 7:16against women and other people
who can be shamed in our society. -
7:16 - 7:19Even if you think
you have nothing to hide, -
7:19 - 7:23at the very least, if you have
children, teenagers in your lives, -
7:23 - 7:26make sure you put a sticker
on their camera and protect them. -
7:26 - 7:28HW: Wow. Thank you so much.
CS: Thank you. -
7:28 - 7:29HW: Thanks, Chris.
-
7:29 - 7:32(Applause)
- Title:
- Your smartphone is a civil rights issue
- Speaker:
- Christopher Soghoian
- Description:
-
The smartphone you use reflects more than just personal taste ... it could determine how closely you can be tracked, too. Privacy expert and TED Fellow Christopher Soghoian details a glaring difference between the encryption used on Apple and Android devices and urges us to pay attention to a growing digital security divide. "If the only people who can protect themselves from the gaze of the government are the rich and powerful, that's a problem," he says. "It's not just a cybersecurity problem -- it's a civil rights problem."
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 07:44
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Your smartphone is a civil rights issue | ||
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Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for Your smartphone is a civil rights issue | ||
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