Tim Cook not budging on Apple privacy decision

While the cases in NY and elsewhere appear to contradict what investigators in the San Bernardino terrorism case have said in their pleadings – that their request is exclusive to one particular iPhone 5S used by gunman Syed Rizwan Farook – the government’s action in the San Bernardino case is the first one requesting Apple’s assistance in unlocking an iPhone with iOS9 technology.

Little is known about how Apple plans to improve security of the iPhone, but it’s believed that the company intends to close the loophole that the government is trying to force it to exploit in order to access content on the device used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists. “We think it’s bad news to write, we would never write it, we have never written it. And that is what is at stake here”. “I mean I don’t know where this stops”.

The newly revealed cases would seem to bolster Apple’s public arguments that the government’s appetite for access to locked iPhones is not limited to one alleged terrorist’s phone in San Bernardino.

Muir asked Cook why Apple hadn’t teamed up with the Federal Bureau of Investigation sooner-to work together on security software from the get-go, which would’ve avoided this whole situation. “They came to us and asked us for all the information we had on this phone, and we gave them everything we had”.

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The software could “expose people to incredible vulnerabilities”, Cook added, arguing that smartphones contain private information about users and even their families.

But in Apple’s view, as Cook noted in his letter, “In the wrong hands, this software – which does not exist today – would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession”.

Cook said that the issue was not just about privacy, but also about the public’s safety.

Cook will also be speaking with US President Barack Obama regarding the issue, and will be willing to fight with the government’s order right till the Supreme Court. he says, “Our job is to protect our customers”. The FBI wants Apple to hack into Farook’s iPhone.

The New York Times quoted sources “close to the company” and security experts who said the company is creating the new security technology, which would significantly disrupt efforts from law enforcement agencies to gather data from the devices.

“It’s a long-standing principle in our justice system that if an independent judge finds reason to believe that a certain item contains evidence of a crime, then that judge can authorize the government to conduct a limited search for that evidence”, Lynch told lawmakers.