Posted on 02/17/2016 9:04:36 PM PST by TigerClaws
A 2015 court case shows that the tech giant has been willing to play ball with the government before—and is only stopping now because it might ‘tarnish the Apple brand.’
Apple CEO Tim Cook declared on Wednesday that his company wouldn’t comply with a government search warrant to unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers, a significant escalation in a long-running debate between technology companies and the government over access to people’s electronically-stored private information.
But in a similar case in New York last year, Apple acknowledged that it could extract such data if it wanted to. And according to prosecutors in that case, Apple has unlocked phones for authorities at least 70 times since 2008. (Apple doesn’t dispute this figure.)
In other words, Apple’s stance in the San Bernardino case may not be quite the principled defense that Cook claims it is. In fact, it may have as much to do with public relations as it does with warding off what Cook called “an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers.â€
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
Right. I think that Google, MS, Juniper and Cisco all did this in response to the Snowden disclosures and the James Clapper testimony misstatements.
Their ability to comply has changed.
Previous versions of the operating system - they deliberately re-wrote the OS and the encryption so they could no longer access the phones when they were locked - in part due to privacy laws in Europe, and in part so that the government could no longer serve THEM with warrants for their customer's data.
The key is not the model of the phone, but the version of the operating system. If it is iOS 8 or later, they are out of luck.
YES you do have it correct!! They want Apple to build a back door program to get into the phone. Apple’s problem is that Apple could be hacked themselves while creating this backdoor putting all of their phones at risk!! I would have to side with Apple on this!!! This particular phone was his government work phone it has special encryption that Apple cannot just hack into !!
Correct...
If the government is so concerned with stopping terrorism....HOW ABOUT NOT LETTING THE TERRORISTS IN THE COUNTRY IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!
Don’t make a private company do your dirty work for you.
Apple could just make a “corporate edition” OS with a backdoor.
I predict this will be the solution. Private phones won’t have it.
Incrementalism, I believe it’s called.
But isn’t Apple saying it simply does not have the means to do so? If that’s the case, then the fedjudge has ordered apple to manufacture something that would get them that data.
Do I have that correct?
Apparently not. It appears Apple can very well crack that phone, they just don't want to.
I have a feeling that if it were the other way around, that this was a case of people murdering a bunch of Muslims, or it it were anti-homosexual murders, that Cook would have no objection.
But isn’t Apple saying it simply does not have the means to do so?
- - - - - - - - - - - -
What I heard on the radio news was that Apple refused because
it would not be fair to EVERYONE — ALL PEOPLE, who would all lose their privacy.
Europe is a different matter. Over there it is "criminal" to complain about refugees. No freedom of speech, no protection. F*** Europe. I would side with Apple over there.
Over here? Not so much.
After Edward Snowden, people wanted more security for their phones, and Apple delivered.
Hey that would be a GREAT solution and gosh so simple do not let the damn TERRORISTS into the country or CLOSE THE DAMN BORDER!!! I am with Apple on this I don’t put a thing on my phone but most folks today have their entire lives on their phone!!!
So, in this case, the phone belongs to a third party - government, no less. I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to see what's in it. If only all public "servants" were held to the same standard...
That is how they are trying to spin it, but according to what I read on this one website from a supposed expert is that the FBI offered to allow Apple to take complete possession of the phone and simply give them the unlocked Data. Apple would not have to share with anybody how they did it, not even the FBI.
Again in plain English, the FBI wants Apple to create a special version of iOS that only works on the one iPhone they have recovered. This customized version of iOS (*ahem* FBiOS) will ignore passcode entry delays, will not erase the device after any number of incorrect attempts, and will allow the FBI to hook up an external device to facilitate guessing the passcode. The FBI will send Apple the recovered iPhone so that this customized version of iOS never physically leaves the Apple campus.
Lots of shaky “facts” in this article...first off all 70 times were prior to iOS ver. 8...Apple improved customer’s security with ver. 8 & 9. All data is now encrypted with 256 bit AES and Apple has lost the ability to read the data. The FBI is now looking for a crack for the “anti-brute force” protections (10 password tries then phone erases itself & the “timer functions” that require more & more time between password tries) so they can attempt to “brute-force “ the terrorist’s password. Secondly, in the “New York Case” that the article is based on, the government used the “All Writs Act” (not a search warrant as the article states), and the judge in that case clearly indicated that the All Writs Act probably doesn’t compel Apple to attempt to crack it’s own security:
“In October 2015, Magistrate Judge James Orenstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, expressed strong doubts that he had legal authority to order Apple to unlock an iPhone in government possession.”
He said:
“[Apple] is a private-sector company that is free to choose to promote its customers’ interests in privacy over the competing interest of law enforcement,” wrote Orenstein in his memorandum and court order.”
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/17/the-esoteric-law-being-used-to-fight-apple.html
So the current judge is on shaky ground when using the “All Writs Act”.
New York Case:
https://ia801501.us.archive.org/27/items/gov.uscourts.nyed.376325/gov.uscourts.nyed.376325.2.0.pdf
San Bernardino case judge order:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2714001-SB-Shooter-Order-Compelling-Apple-Asst-iPhone.html
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