Here in America, we like our privacy. There is nothing we hate more than the idea that someone could come into the most private parts of our lives and watch what we are doing or somehow see everything. That is why it really freaks us out to hear about the NSA spying on us. And it is especially scary when the NSA  taps our iPhones, an allegation Apple has denied.

Tapping iPhones

In the last few months, it seems there have been a lot of instances of hacked information, tapped phones, and webcam hacks. Maybe we’re just getting better at hacking, or maybe our technology isn’t secure as we thought. Despite all those things, iPhone users now have to worry about Dropout Jeep, according to ABC News, a program supposedly used by the NSA to hack into iPhone. Not only would the NSA have the ability to read text messages, listen in on phone calls, and download phone contact information, but they would also be able to turn on the microphone and camera on the phone to gather intel. Few people feel comfortable with giving anyone this kind of control over their lives, and our phones hold everything important to us now.

Apple says it isn’t true

Though most people believe that this kind of thing would not be possible without the help of Apple assisting the NSA in the Dropout Jeep program, Apple denies any involvement. And even if Apple was involved, the program may not even work on current smartphones since it was supposedly created back in 2008. Hopefully Apple was not involved in something like this and would never compromise its customers’ security for anything. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever know the truth, though.

The scariest part

Most people aren’t too worried about the government reading their emails, listening to their phone calls, and reading texts. Either we are too busy to care or just assume it only happens when necessary and only when it is to help our country. There are two things that really worry people. First of all, iPhones are supposed to be secure. Companies have switched from BlackBerry to iPhone specifically because the encryption is supposed to be the same or better. It is unnerving to think it is easy to break that security and get access to private company information. Second, the idea that someone could, at any time, turn on your phone’s camera and see you is scary. There are personal moments you wouldn’t want anyone to see let alone have recorded by the government, and your phone is with you during a lot of those moments.

Is this really news?

Is anyone really all that surprised about this? The government has been hacking phones and getting into our personal lives for a long time now. Maybe the shock factor is more that we all hoped it wasn’t true. Even though we all knew that these kinds of things happened, we didn’t really believe that we would be affected by it.

Source: ABC News