WASHINGTON — The widely successful tech company Apple is in murky waters as to whether or not they should let the FBI, and other agency’s alike, hack into smartphones to help stop terrorism in the United States of America.

There is currently a national debate about if Apple should let National Security get into Apples top of the line technology. This issue came up because of a recent terrorism attack in San Bernardino, California this past December. The gunman who had committed the massacre had an Apple iPhone and got people wondering whether or not he had evidence of the attack or others planned hidden away on his own personal device.

Law enforcement officials, as well as others, are not persuaded and truly believe that the FBI must have the ability to monitor communications in search of criminals. However, that brings up the other topic of whether or not the Government is only using the ability to spy on criminals and not on common people. This definitely has people concerned as to whether or not they are truly safe when sending messages over cyberspace.

Audrey MacLean, a local resident of Stow, owns an iPhone and has something to say about the topic, she says, “The FBI should be able to have access to any information they need to convict and put away a terrorist or murderer”. She continues by saying, “Even if it means that they need access to my phone because I have not done anything wrong. They need to focus on and stopping the real criminals out there no matter the cost”.

Samantha MacLean, another local resident of Stow, also owns an iPhone however has a different stance on the issue. “They should not disclose any information about the General Public. However, if they are under investigation for acts of terrorism then by all means go for it”. She then uses the analogy “It is my grill and if I wanted them there, then I would have invited them to my Barbeque”.

The consensus here is that while personal information is called “personal” for a reason, there are some exceptions to the rule. Apple is resisting the Governments ability to do so, in the end it could benefit both sides by potentially stopping terrorism before it happens.