The recent confrontation between the FBI and Apple highlights both the importance of smartphones in modern life and the power of publicly-available cryptography. In this talk we will explore this controversy, and then consider the more general issues of the public use of cryptography and one’s right to keep one’s personal data to one’s self. Along the way we will treat the specific questions of whether forced decryption is self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment, and the technical and legal status of smartphones as the personal papers of the 21st century.

Stephen Wicker is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cornell University. He conducts research in wireless information networks, cellular networks, packet-switched computer networks, and digital telephony. He currently focuses on the interface between information networking technology, law, and sociology, with a particular emphasis on how design choices and regulation can infringe the privacy and speech rights of users. In 2014 Wicker briefed the National Economic Council at the White House on privacy and security for the smart grid.