BlackBerry CEO, John Chen, took aim at Apple today for the company's privacy stance. Although his sentiments make sense on the surface, this issue is not so cut and dry. Apple has decided to provide encryption for everyone. That kind of complete security allows everyone to protect their privacy. Of course, criminals may use the technology too.

John Chen says their technology shouldn't be available to protect criminals.

For years, government officials have pleaded to the technology industry for help yet have been met with disdain. In fact, one of the world’s most powerful tech companies recently refused a lawful access request in an investigation of a known drug dealer because doing so would “substantially tarnish the brand” of the company. We are indeed in a dark place when companies put their reputations above the greater good. At BlackBerry, we understand, arguably more than any other large tech company, the importance of our privacy commitment to product success and brand value: privacy and security form the crux of everything we do. However, our privacy commitment does not extend to criminals.

The problem with this thinking is what authority gets to decide who the criminal is an who it isn't? In addition, anytime a backdoor is there a bad hacker or government can exploit it.

I believe Apple is right to make encryption the default. This does not prevent the government from using other means to steal the keys, or a password, to unlock the device. What it does do is prevent regular citizens from being analyzed and spied on by a government.

The fact that criminals use encryption and other technologies is unavoidable. Law enforcement must find other ways of tracking these criminals.

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