In less than a week, Apple vs. FBI — the epic showdown between privacy and security in the age of the iPhone — goes to court. Here are some related news and developments ahead of that super Tuesday.
As Howard Mintz reported yesterday, Apple filed a response to last week s government filing about the case. The company dismissed the Justice Department s argument that what the government wants Apple to do is just help out in this one case, that it could enable the FBI to hack into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters without setting a precedent.
Also in the filing, the company addressed the U.S. government s assertion that Apple has accommodated and turned over user information to China plenty of times, therefore negating Apple s argument regarding the risk posed by other governments possibly exploiting the back door the company is being asked to build.
Contrary to the government s misleading statistics, which had to do with lawful process and did not compel the creation of software that undermines the security of its users, Apple has never built a back door of any kind into iOS, or otherwise made data stored on the iPhone or in iCloud more technically accessible to any country s government, Apple said. The government is wrong in asserting that Apple made special accommodations for China, as Apple uses the same security protocols everywhere in the world and follows the same standards for responding to law enforcement requests.
The big fight is over the information that s stored locally on shooter Syed Farook s iPhone, which the government and others believe could help the investigation into the deadly massacre. The government already has the data that Farook backed up to the iCloud, which Apple handed over. But speaking of information in the iCloud, the Wall Street Journal takes a closer look at the previously reported item that Apple is working on strengthening the encryption of that information so that the company can t get to it, either. The problem is that it could mean a convenience trade-off, because if a customer forgets a password and Apple doesn t have the key, either, that data could be lost and inaccessible forever.
Fight for the Future, the group that organized the protests against the government at Apple Stores around the country after the Apple vs. FBI battle was first made public last month, is planning another protest. In a press release today, the group said it will read and display thousands of comments submitted online at SaveSecurity.org in front of the San Bernardino courthouse Tuesday.
Fight for the Future is just one of the many advocacy groups in Apple s corner. Another is the Rev. Jesse Jackson s Rainbow/Push Coalition.
In a phone interview Tuesday with SiliconBeat, Jackson said his experience as a civil-rights leader compels him to speak out for privacy, which he calls a fundamental American and human right. He praised Apple CEO Tim Cook s stand on the issue, saying it would be easier to bow than fight.
If Apple loses, America loses, Jackson said.
Photo illustration: An iPhone held up in front of the Apple logo. (AFP/Getty Images)
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