[LINK] "FBI’s Fight With Apple Over Encryption May Erode European Trust in U.S."

[rfmcdonald]

Newsweek's Seung Lee describes how the FBI conflict with Apple might undermine the position of the United States in the European Union (and of Apple, too!).

With Apple openly fighting court orders backed by the FBI and the Department of Justice this week, several news outlets have reported on how Russia and China may use this case to expand their surveillance powers.

But this legal battle may have huge ripple effects among America’s closest allies in Europe as well. The United States and the European Union do not currently have an agreement on how to share data across the Atlantic. But both sides have recently reached a new transatlantic data protection agreement called Privacy Shield, which would allow companies to move data across the Atlantic lawfully and with protection against foreign threats.

But European public trust toward the United States remains shaky following the disclosure via Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency (NSA) engaged in large-scale data collection involving EU citizens. If the FBI is able to coerce Apple into opening encrypted smartphones, that trust—and maybe even Privacy Shield—could topple quickly, one security expert tells Newsweek.

“Privacy advocates will use this is as a bargaining position against Privacy Shield,” says Stephen Cobb, a senior security researcher at the IT security company ESET. “They will cry, ‘See, the United States is still not secure.’”