Woz says you can't trust govement, denies Apple case is terrorism-related - CNET

The Apple co-founder forcefully declared he was against any backdoors in phones.

"I believe that Apple's brand recognition and value and profits is largely based on an item called trust," he said. "Trust means you believe somebody. You believe you're buying a phone with encryption."

He expanded upon his views about trust.

"You can't trust who is in power," he said. "It's like believing the authority and police wherever they go. Generally, when they write the rules, they're right when they're wrong."

In essence, Woz doesn't seem convinced that the authorities are telling the whole story.

"Terrorism is just a phony word being used," he said when asked whether exceptions should be made for acts of terrorism. "The case involved actually with Apple right now had to be with -- I believe it was a shooting or a murder or something. It wasn't terrorism. You know what is terrorism? It's just a deeper crime."

He added that "the word 'terrorist' has been used way too often to scare people."

At heart, though, like Cook, he fears creep. If Apple performs this hack once, then it can be not only done again but also obtained by other, possibly unfriendly nations.

"I'm talking about the general case that goes much deeper than this case. And that is the FBI wants a permanent backdoor built in. And I just think that's wrong," he said.

In buying a phone, he said he didn't want "companies playing tricks behind me in the background. Even Google marketing to me is something Apple doesn't do."