Last week saw round three of Apple vs the FBI, as the pair moved their battle from the courts to the inner sanctums of Washington DC. Arguments on both sides still rage over the privacy issues surrounding government law enforcement demands that Apple help them hack the iPhones of terrorists, criminals and other suspicious types. The argument has changed slightly since the FBI hired an Israeli company that claimed it could crack Apple's products without the Cupertino firm's help. However, the FBI is still pursuing Apple for more assistance. 

The ongoing arguments in Washington, at a Congressional hearing (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/technology/fbi-iphone-apple-house-encryption-hearing.html?_r=0), are helping to stoke the debate around encryption and cybersecurity, with more device makers, and software and service developers adding encryption to their products. In response, the US government is considering a bill that will force technology companies to decrypt customer data if asked by a court. Given the current situation, that will push those companies to release unbreakable products, so they cannot decrypt any information, as Apple insisted was the case with newer iPhone devices. 

Further north in Canada, BlackBerry has been quizzed this week by the press after it turned out that encrypted messages were read as part of a criminal investigation. The company denies its encryption has been broken, but BlackBerry CEO John Chen said that the company complies with reasonable lawful access requests for customer data. This highlights the thin line between believing a product is secure (and BlackBerry is still used by many government workers due to its encryption features) and finding out that messages can still be accessed. 

Security increasing for apps and services

Even if many users don't really notice, encryption is rapidly spreading across websites, smartphones and online services. Google's own Blogger.com popular blogging service recently enabled "https://" connections, joining banks, email, online stores and many more in providing an encrypted link between the user and server. This makes it harder for hackers and spies to monitor what we do online and will be increasingly common over any type of online connection. Even our own site now creates a secure connection by default, to highlight how much we value customer privacy, security and discretion.

Most individuals are more concerned about being hacked, or having their data stolen than they are about government snooping, and are increasing their efforts to protect themselves. Use of VPN services is rising fast, allowing users to create a secure tunnel through all the public networks that our data travels over to reach the server securely. 

Security is also a strong selling point for many types of products. Skype rival Viber recently announced that its online communications, calling and messaging app now creates secure connections, with end-to-end encryption for its online phone calls and chats. However, just adding some security may not be enough for some. People are still concerned about being able to check the validity of the other person. Some communication services like WhatsApp allow users to digitally confirm who they are talking to. So, beware of security hype and check that any products you plan to install are truly secure before signing up. 

The cost of convenience vs security

Much of this security goes on without us really noticing, and in some cases, like smartphone fingerprint recognition, actually speeds up and improves the user experience. However, if governments really start to crack down on consumer technology security, with some more extreme politicians around the world planning to ban encrypted products, being secure will require jail-breaking devices, adding nominally illegal apps to add encryption and so on. Many people will find that deeply inconvenient and simply risk being exposed to criminals and fraud, for which they can thank their government! 

All of this activity takes place against a background of major telecommunication and IT companies continuing to supply governments with customer information on a case by case basis, usually based on a warrant. Bulk data collection still takes place in the background by government intelligence agencies, but that outcry seems to be being replaced by the encryption issue. 

Governments and security services will position their arguments carefully; do you want your data secure and easy to access compared to the small risk of a criminal case where you are the victim, and the suspect cannot be charged because the police cannot access incriminating data as evidence? Or, there is the even smaller risk of being caught up either at home or abroad in a terrorist bombing campaign, because security services couldn't intercept their messages. 

Whoever ends up on the wrong side of that argument will be used by police and governments as valid reasons for encryption being weakened or removed from technology products. It will be a fierce argument settled in courts on the deepest of technicalities, but for now in the current climate, everyone should ensure their data is protected because being secure is the only option, protecting users from criminals and thieves, which far outweighs the other risks.