Private citizens' smartphones should be accessible to the government, President Obama said in his South by Southwest keynote Friday, Variety reports. To want total privacy on the devices, he suggested, is "fetishizing."
"How do we disrupt a terrorist plot? What mechanisms do we have available to do even simple things like tax enforcement?" he said. "There has to be some concessions to get into that information."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - May 11, 2025Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - shark-infested waters, Mother's Day, and more
-
5 fundamentally funny cartoons about the US ConstitutionCartoons Artists take on Sharpie edits, wear and tear, and more
-
In search of paradise in Thailand's western islesThe Week Recommends 'Unspoiled spots' remain, providing a fascinating insight into the past
-
India strikes Pakistan as tensions mount in Kashmirspeed read Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it an 'act of war'
-
Israel approves plan to take over Gaza indefinitelyspeed read Benjamin Netanyahu says the country is 'on the eve of a forceful entry'
-
Putin talks nukes as Kyiv slated for US air defensesspeed read 'I hope they will not be required,' Putin said of nuclear weapons on Russian state TV
-
US, Ukraine sign joint minerals dealspeed read The Trump administration signed a deal with Ukraine giving the US access to its mineral wealth
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Israel launches air strike on Beirut suburbsSpeed Read The attack targeting Hezbollah was Israel's third on the Lebanese capital since November's ceasefire
-
Dozens dead in Kashmir as terrorists target touristsSpeed Read Visitors were taking pictures and riding ponies in a popular mountain town when assailants open fired, killing at least 26
-
Israel blames 'failures' for killing of medicsspeed read 14 Gaza medics and 1 U.N. employee were killed by IDF special forces
