Apple and the US government are at loggerheads for the second time in four years over unlocking iPhones connected to a mass shooting, reviving debate over law enforcement access to encrypted devices.
Attorney General Bill Barr said Monday that Apple failed to provide “substantive assistance” in unlocking two iPhones in the investigation into the December shooting deaths of three US sailors at a Florida naval station, which he called an “act of terrorism.”
Apple disputed Barr’s claim, while arguing against the idea of “backdoors” for law enforcement to access its encrypted smartphones.
“We reject the characterization that Apple has not provided substantive assistance in the Pensacola investigation,” the company said in a statement.
“Our responses to their many requests since the attack have been timely, thorough and are ongoing.”
Late on Tuesday, President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter, saying the government was helping Apple on trade issues “yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements.”
“They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW!” he added.
The standoff highlighted the debate between law enforcement and the tech sector about encryption — a key way to protect the privacy of digital communications, but which can also make investigations difficult, even with a court order.
The latest battle is similar to the dispute between Apple and the US Justice Department after the December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, when the iPhone maker rejected a request to develop software to break into the shooter’s iPhone.
That fight ended in 2016 when the government paid an outside party a reported $1 million for a tool that circumvented Apple’s iPhone encryption.
Barr last year called on Facebook to allow authorities to circumvent encryption to fight extremism, child pornography and other crimes. The social network has said it would move ahead with strong encryption for its messaging applications……..read more
Source: AFP
