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The clash between Apple and the FBI is the latest battle in a century-long conflict over the power to keep secrets. The FBI wants Apple to build a 鈥渂ackdoor to the iPhone鈥� so that it can read encrypted data on a locked phone used by one of the San Bernadino attackers.

Apple says such a backdoor would be the equivalent of 鈥渁 master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks鈥�. Creating such a key, Apple says, would 鈥渦ndermine decades of security advancements鈥�.

Cryptography was once controlled by the state, which deployed it for military and diplomatic ends. But in the 1970s, long-haired hippy Whitfield Diffie came up with what has been described as the most revolutionary concept in encryption since the Renaissance.

Diffie鈥檚 invention took the keys away from the state and marked the start of the 鈥楥rypto Wars鈥� 鈥� the fight for the right of individuals and companies to communicate beyond the gaze of government agencies. The Inquiry tells the compelling story of the ongoing encryption war, taking evidence from expert witnesses including Whitfield Diffie himself.

(Photo: Rally support for Apple refusal to help FBI. Credit: EPA Wires)