>>This obsession with "privacy" is a contemporary mania that probably can be traced back to some of the crazy things J Edgar Hoover and Nixon's crowd did.
>>Nevertheless, it's a whacky mania.

IMHO government secrecy is very different from personal privacy.

Unless you were so foolish as to write "Banking PIN" in your little black book along with verbatim emails to/from your lawyers about an upcoming court case that could break you financially, or inserted favorite samples of those nude selfies you like to take(!) then there's no comparison between a smartphone and a little black book IMHO.

Seems to me that when Apple acquiesces, it confirms to every hacker in the world that it's possible. After which it's only a matter of time before a Julian Assange reveals the method or legions of hackers figure it out and publish. I used to say that only health detriments from wireless can slow the personal device movement- but loss of privacy over anything in your device is more dangerous than carrying wads of cash and probably is a more immediate threat today.