Facebook takes Apple’s side in privacy fight with FBI

The information on the phone disappears after too many failed log-in attempts.

Facebook, like Apple, has sweeping overseas ambitions in markets where growth hinges on customers entrusting these companies with the most intimate details of their lives without qualms that the US government or their own government may gain unfettered access to their personal information. “But since Apple has done this, we do have a collection of phones starting at law enforcement that we have seized that are sitting there that we can not get into, so it has become an issue”.

SIEGEL: That was last October. There have been lots of cases where Apple has allowed the government to get into phones, get access off of phones.

USA technology giant Apple has vowed to fight an order to unblock an iPhone used by one of the perpetrators of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 dead.

Vance and Bratton said they were simply seeking to execute lawful court orders based on probable cause. Welcome to the program.

Apple’s position is unique for this fight.

SELL: I hope I could be as fearless as Tim Cook and do the exact same thing.

Both sides are framing their statements in ways that foreshadow the high-profile legal arguments that pit digital privacy rights against national security interests – and could affect millions of cellphone users. “They’ve complied with court orders in the past”, NewYorker.com editor Nick Thompson told CBS News. “If you accept my offer, then you will not need to ask Apple to place a back door in its product, which will be the beginning of the end of America”. I mean, all of us want to comply. And by Tim Cook agreeing to not build this, he’s helping protect all of us.

The FBI is locked out of San Bernadino shooter, Syed Farook’s iPhone. He was a mass murderer. “Rather, it is asking for something more specific”, he said. And on Tuesday night, a federal judge ramped up the pressure against Apple considerably by ordering the firm to create a custom version of the iPhone operating system in order to break through its encryption.

“I think Steve would’ve gone for the privacy”, Wozniak said during a phone interview on CNBC on Thursday. And more importantly, what will the White House’s response be?

“One time we talked to the Federal Bureau of Investigation”. The FBI has therefore asked Apple to craft a custom crack, to be performed on Apple premises, so they can examine the contents of the phone and won a court order that compels Cupertino’s compliance.

While the government has suggested the software tool will be used to unlock only the device in question, Apple and other technology companies believe that it sets a precedent that could lead to similar unlocking requests in the future or a general demand to weaken overall encryption for electronic devices.