Tech CEO on why he's changed his mind on Apple-FBI feud

Over the course of the ongoing battle between Apple and the government over unlocking the iPhone of the San Bernardino terrorist, Max Levchin -- PayPal co-founder and CEO of financial tech company Affirm -- said his views have changed from a "clear-cut, black and white" stance of helping the FBI to supporting Tim Cook.All of us -- certainly I am as a parent and a husband - the initial reaction is, let's help the law enforcement. It's very clear Apple has been and wants to continue to do so, but it must have felt that the slope has gotten very slippery," Levchin told "CBS This Morning" Friday. "Why not expect Apple to have software in your phone that just surreptitiously records everything you say?"

Levchin said the court order to "write code to surveil its customers is unprecedented." Since the very beginning, the government has reiterated that this would be a one-time case, but Levchin has sided with Apple, suggesting there were are no absolute guarantees.

"I'm sure it's possible to build code that only runs only on this particular phone, but by extension, it's true that they can write code that works on any other iPhone, yours for example, or your laptop or my laptop," Levchin said.

One question that has surfaced amidst the heated debate is why the government cannot hack into the phone without Apple's assistance, but Levchin said that was "impossible."

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"The security within the iPhone today is strong enough where the company itself has means to unlock it if they're compelled to do so, but the best hacker in the world without Apple's help could not," Levchin said.

Levchin said by bringing the debate to the public, Cook wants to carry it Congressand the Supreme Court, to have "a clear set of laws created because there isn't anything on the books today."

"I think we're ultimately worried about the precedent," Levchin said, alluding to other recent scandals including CIA's waterboarding tactic and NSA surveillance. "We have put aside the conversation of what's important to us as a society, as a country, in favor of solving the problem that is immediately in front of us and subsequently, we found ourselves soul searching over and over again, and I think that's what (Apple) is trying to prevent."

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