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The government is asking Apple to write special software to override security features on an iPhone to help a federal investigation. But at what cost to consumers trust in their own iPhone’s security? Lexie de los Santos from the Consumer Technology Association explains their stance in this week’s “CTA Update”.
CTA’s President and CEO, Gary Shapiro, responded to the government mandate against Apple saying it would open Pandora’s Box, setting a troubling precedent and weakening device security. Consumers have come to rely on their security protections in their devices that they use every day.
And with the amount of data we create, share and collect growing rapidly, it’s important that the government prioritize our right to privacy. Consumers should be able to trust that their personal data is legally protected. And government should not require technology companies to weaken security developed to protect consumers, even when investigating crimes.
CTA and the tech industry remain committed to cooperating with law enforcement but mandating a weakening of security standards could hurt consumers and stifle innovation.
To learn more visit cta.tech
Josh in Tupelo, Mississippi listening on Supertalk 94.3 FM asked:
I dabble in graphic design. I’m in need of a program comparable to Adobe Photoshop but need something that is anywhere from “free” to “much cheaper than Photoshop.” Any ideas?
You have several options. GIMP is great, a little rough around the edges, and with more of a Linux feel to it, but it’s totally free and it does a lot of what Photoshop does, and does it very well, there’s a version of it called “GIMPShop” that tries to mimic the Photoshop user interface as well, so you could look at that one if you’re really looking for more of a Photoshop clone.
Pixlr is another free option, it’s not as full featured as Photoshop or even GIMP and it’s web based, but it is pretty powerful, especially for a cloud-based tool. If you’re good at image editing already, just make sure you’re not on Basic mode.
Photoshop Express is Adobe’s own free online editor, again, fewer features than real Photoshop
Photoshop Express is Adobe’s own free online editor, again, fewer features than real Photoshop, but it will look similar and perform some basic functions. Paintshop Pro will also cost around $100, it’s has plenty of useful features and it may be enough to satisfy you, if you don’t need the most advanced Photoshop functions.
Another great free alternative is PhotoScape. PhotoScape has all of the basic image editing tools you might want, as well as some advanced features that let you add text and other objects to your images. It is far simpler than Photoshop, although admittedly doesn’t do nearly as much, but it’s free, and for someone looking to touch up their digital photos, PhotoScape is a great tool and they have both Windows and Mac versions. You can get the details at photoscape.org. And you didn’t mention whether you had Windows or Mac, but if you happen to have a Mac, look at Pixelmator in the Mac App store. Very comparable in power to Photoshop unless you need color separations for professional printing, but much cheaper at $30 and much easier to use as well.