Box's Aaron Levie Defends Encryption as Central to the Digital Age

Box’s Aaron Levie — who has already voiced his support for Apple in its fight with the government over unlocking an iPhone — offered a nuanced defense of the value of encryption.

Levie says the horrible mass murder in San Bernardino weighs on everyone, and acknowledges law enforcement has a difficult job. But as more people and companies rely on digital platforms to communicate, work together and do business, the devices we carry need to be trustworthy.

“It should become evidently clear that more security, not less, is the key to maintaining the trust that sits at the center of our digital age,” Levie wrote in a blog post earlier this week. “Without it, there’s simply no way to ensure that the Internet and technology — and their growing economic impact — will continue to flourish.”

A growing number of Silicon Valley companies are taking a stand in support of encryption, at a time when the Department of Justice has turned to the courts to make its case for breaking the security on a phone used by one of the shooters in the Dec. 2 attack.

Apple says what the government is asking is both unprecedented and unconstitutional.

This article has been updated to correct the timing of Levie’s Feb. 21 post.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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