Privacy v. security

Encryption Battle Yields More Yawns than Yelps

With Congress poised to consider draft legislation that would give the FBI -- or any law enforcement agency with a court-ordered warrant -- the right to examine everyone's encrypted data, the other back-door-kicking shoe appears ready to drop.

But even as the two sides square off in the ongoing struggle between security and privacy, Brent Fried -- a UC Berkeley junior who was rushing into the International House Cafe to study for midterms this week -- pulled out his iPhone's earbuds and shrugged.

"I don't understand why it's such a huge deal," he said. "It hasn't been much of an issue for me." Fried acknowledged he'd read about the FBI's challenge to the sanctity of his Farmville crop rotation schedule, but said, "I've been focused on other things in my life."

Public opinion surveys, influenced by the latest series of attacks in Paris, San Bernardino and Brussels, suggest the pendulum of concern among Americans has swung back toward keeping the country safe. But while that natural instinct tends to wane in times of peace, privacy advocates shudder at the thought that their fellow Americans have become so addicted to technology that they lose sight of the implications.