Bill Gates has sided with the FBI in regards to the current debate about whether or not Apple should be compelled to create a backdoor into the iPhone. NBC News reports that Gates based his decision on the fact that the FBI is not trying to set a general rule, but rather are asking for specific information pertaining to a specific case. Gates’ views set him apart from most other high-level Silicon Valley executives, who have sided with Apple. Matthew Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told The Cipher Brief that the encryption issue is a significant problem for law enforcement, and that “the FBI should continue to advance the argument and to work, as they have been, with the technology community to address this problem.” Currently, communications appear to have broken down between law enforcement and the tech industry, but Gates’ statement may begin to change that.
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