In the Apple Case, a Debate Over Data Hits Home

Three years ago, reeling from Snowden’s disclosure of the government’s vast surveillance programs and uncertain how to respond, President Barack Obama said he welcomed a vigorous public debate about the wrenching trade-offs between safeguarding personal privacy and tracking down potential terrorists. But the national debate touched off this winter by the confrontation between the Justice Department and Apple over smartphone security is not exactly the one President Obama had in mind.

Snowden’s revelations produced modest changes and a heightened suspicion of the government’s activities in cyberspace. Because the issue now centers on a device most Americans carry in their pockets, it is concrete and personal in a way that surveillance by the National Security Agency never was. The trade-offs seem particularly stark because they have been framed around a simple question: Should Apple help the FBI hack into an iPhone used by a gunman in the San Bernardino massacre?