Encryption an 'Enabler of Human Rights,' Amnesty International Says

Source: NBC News

Human rights group Amnesty International has released a report calling encryption an "important enabler of human rights" — just before Apple was due to go to court with the government in a case that has turned what was once an obscure military technology into a topic of water cooler conversation.

Amnesty's 41-page report lays out the organization's case for the importance of encryption — the technology that makes sensitive digital information like your bank transactions harder to hack by scrambling the information beyond recognition. While encryption can also be used by terrorists and crooks, Amnesty says, the benefits of security and privacy to billions of law-abiding device users outweigh what a few bad guys might do with the technology.

The report also narrows in on the ongoing case in California, where federal investigators have sought help getting into an iPhone 5C used by San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Lawyers for the government filed an application to delay the hearing late on Monday, which the judge granted. They said the FBI had come across a new method that might allow it to crack the phone without Apple's help.

"At stake in the Apple case is whether a future administration could exploit the next national moment of crisis, and use its access to our phones to target journalists, or persecute activists and minorities," Naureen Shah, Amnesty International USA's director of security and human rights, said in a press release.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/encryption-enabler-human-rights-amnesty-international-says-n542906