There is no doubt: The stakes in the battle over the San Bernardino terrorists’ iPhone encryption are huge.

You need to be involved in this fight; pick a side and then be vocal. Call your legislators, write opinion letters to your paper’s editor or any other means necessary to inform and engage others. 

Certainly the terrorists’ actions were horrific. Families have been forever damaged. Our way of life has been attacked. There is no denying the pain and suffering caused by this senseless act of terror. On the surface, it makes perfect sense to want to force Apple Inc. to break the iPhone encryption so that authorities can discover other terror links and whether others were involved in this brutal attack.

Setting aside our emotion, let’s think rationally for a moment about the long-term consequences of the government’s request of Apple. Breaking the iPhone encryption may be the easiest or fastest way to the information, but it is absolutely not the only way to get that information.

Let’s first consider the demand for a company to build something that it does not currently possess. The basic premise of our capitalist free market system is that the government is not involved in setting product strategy, pricing or other day-to-day activities of a private enterprise. Once we open this door, where does it end?

The second issue of concern is actually the one of greater importance. It is the government’s insistence on breaking into encryption. In general, this is a very bad idea. Think of all the things that are protected by encryption: every “secure” Internet transaction, from online banking to shopping and secure email. The safeguarding of protected health information  in your medical records is accomplished with encryption. All of your tax records with the Internal Revenue Service, including your Social Security number, earning history and charitable contributions, are encrypted for your safety and security.

Bigger picture: Our nuclear arsenal, military communication, stealth technology, troop movements, battle plans … yep, all encrypted.

Encryption is a core component to just about every facet of our lives today. Creating a “back door” or methodology to undermine the security of encryption could be devastating. If you couldn’t trust the “SSL” used to do online purchasing, would you make those purchases? If people stopped buying online, how would that affect our economy?

The notion that the government is willing to let Apple keep this technology after it creates it is absurd. Something this valuable wouldn’t be kept secret for long. All the money the U.S. government has spent to protect military secrets has failed. China has built a stealth fighter jet based on stolen US technology. Who can honestly say this technology wouldn’t be even more valuable?

For those of you thinking I haven’t considered the other side of this argument, you are wrong. I was on Capitol Hill last year speaking with a Senate staffer working on national security issues for the Senate Judiciary Committee. He asked, “If your child was kidnapped and the only way to find him was through a back door to the encryption on the kidnapper’s iPhone, would you then be in favor of a back door?” I looked him square in the eye and said, “No.”  I come from a long line of veterans who served during World War II, Vietnam and Iraq. One thing I know is that sometimes the sacrifices of a few must be made to protect the many.

While not having immediate access to encrypted criminal or terrorist information may have direct consequences, think of the bigger picture and the long-term consequences of a world where encryption cannot be trusted. That’s not a world I think any of us want to experience.

You can reach Dave via email or Twitter.