I believe the government has the right to force companies to unlock their customer’s phones in order to gain information that affects the safety of the public. I believe the authorities should take any precautions necessary in order to keep the public safe, including forcing companies, such as Apple, to unlock phones.

Searching a person’s phone is no different than searching their house or car, which means authorities should require a warrant to unlock a suspect’s phone. The main concern of the people is that the government will be “invading our privacy” because so many people own phones, but the government already has the right to search anything necessary in order to gather evidence. The information contained within a phone could be enough to solve many cases. If people in society know that the authorities cannot access our phones, they will start to use that against the government by committing crimes and using their phones with no worries.

I believe Apple has the right to refuse to comply with the government to an extent. I believe it depends on the severity of the crime. If the government is looking to accuse a suspect for murder or any other major crime, then Apple should be required to unlock the given suspect’s phone. I believe this should also require a warrant. However, if the crime is petty or minor, I believe the suspect is entitled to some privacy and Apple can decide whether or not the authorities have the right to search their phone.

As long as circumstances permit it, and the authorities have a warrant, I believe any phone company should be required to unlock a suspect’s phone. When it comes to petty crimes, it should be the phone company’s choice whether or not to grant access to an individual’s phone.