Tim Cook says mandating Apple crack San Bernardino attacker’s iPhone is ‘dangerous’

While the federal government says it’s tracking leads to ISIS, Apple says the order could endanger phone privacy for hundreds of millions of law-abiding citizens around the world. In a statement, CEO Tim Cook said the court order sought and obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is investigating the December 2015 attack, would pose a serious threat to data security. Right now both Apple and Google agree that forcing companies to undermine their own devices’ security doesn’t meet that standard.

Cook says this “master key” could fall into the wrong hands or that the government could extend its reach of privacy and demand Apple track locations, or access a cell phone’s camera without the owner knowing, WCBS 880’s Alex Silverman reported.

The FBI’S order to Apple to help them figure out the password of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s iPhone is “unprecedented and unsafe”, said Nate Cardozo of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Apple agreed, releasing a letter to customers saying it has no sympathy for terrorists, but opposed the order because it has “implications far beyond the legal case at hand”.

Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik died in a shootout with police after the attack. “And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control”.

On Tuesday, federal magistrate judge Sheri Pym agreed with prosecutors and ordered Apple to “assist in enabling the search” of the county phone used by Farook.

In fact, experts say that complying with the government’s request wouldn’t be particularly challenging for Apple.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the statement, but the company’s most likely next step is to file an appeal.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday that the Justice Department is asking Apple to unlock one device, not create a new “backdoor” to its products.

“We still have one of the killer’s phones that we have not been able to open”, said FBI Director James Comey.

Google is backing Apple Inc in its fight against the U.S. government, which is trying to get the company to unlock an encrypted iPhone, a move that the industry fears will lead to greater access by any authorities to private data.

The U.S. government wants us to trust that it won’t misuse this power.

“I can’t imagine the frustration of the investigators”, Sutton said.