This isn&#x27;t really too surprising, nearly all Law Enforcement agencies have been using these as a pretense to undermine civil rights. And the argument is just as broken for crypto as it is for guns, people who are going to use a tool for ill, will do so regardless of laws disallowing such use. And while it would be possible to force vendors to put back doors in phones, it doesn&#x27;t prevent anyone from sideloading a crypto app.<p>One of the best counter factuals for this debate is that our terrorists are using high explosives in suicide belts and fully automatic AK47&#x27;s in their acts. Both of those things are supposed to be &quot;impossible&quot; to get by non-authorized personnel and yet they are. Those physical things have to move through channels that the authorities already have the right to search and seize (trans-border crossings) so why not fix <i>that</i> problem?<p>It is a sad situation, and I mourn for the people of Paris and all the people and in the future who have been and will be killed by extremists. But that pales in comparison to how much I mourn for the death of a free and equal society with guaranteed human rights.