Apple has just posted an open letter in response to the FBI unlock request for iPhone data in a San Bernardino court case, signed by Tim Cook. Apple says that the FBI court order is an unprecedented step which threatens the security of its customers. With ‘implications far beyond the legal case at hand’ at stake, Apple has posted its public response to start communication with regard to this issue.
Apple says it has complied with valid warrants in regard to the San Bernardino case, but now the FBI has gone too far in Cook’s eyes … asking Apple to create something ‘ too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone.’
Cook goes on to say that the court wants Apple to create a special version of the iPhone operating system, which would ignore many key security features. The letter then indicates that this order is unprecedented in history: ‘We can find no precedent for an American company being forced to expose its customers to a greater risk of attack.’
The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.
According to the letter, the government wants Apple to create a special OS just for this case. Apple says there is no way to guarantee that this custom code will not be used for other cases and that making it would threaten user privacy and set a dangerous precedent for future legal cases. Cook says that the government is effectively asking Apple to hack its own devices and ‘undermine decades of security enhancements that protect our customers’.
Cook explains the FBI is making these demands through the All Writs Act. Right now, the FBI wants Apple to make special iPhone software to enable PIN brute-forcing. But Cook says it could go further, using the same legal justification to get access to messages, health records or even access iPhone camera and microphone without user knowledge.
The letter concludes with Cook claiming the FBI demands compromises freedoms and liberties that ‘the government is meant to protect’.
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What an interesting worded letter. I think Tim position is clear. Wow!
Wow. This is a pivotal moment for the privacy issue in the US. A well-crafted response from Apple to a situation that can only end in an embarassing disaster for either Apple or the government.
To bad the Supreme Court is down to 8 justices and the gop wants to keep it that way for at least a year.
Ya, We want OBAMA to throw in a nice Left winger to throw away more of our constitution rights. Instead of following the constitution in the first place.
Too bad both parties are interested in continuing the Bush and Obama legacy of increased spying on Americans.
i agree with Apple and i support what apple is fighting for , Apple is fighting for people’s privacy .
Try UK! 5.9 million CCTV Cameras. Cameras on main roads capture number plate details to track the movements of all vehicles and the results are kept for two years.
To be fair, Apple isn’t exactly just fighting for the customers. It is mainly fighting for its own reputation. If Apple were to follow the court’s order, then it would make it crystal clear to your average customers that something security experts have been saying all along, which is the fact that an encryption scheme that is protected by a 4 number pin code, is as weak as the pin code itself.
So what kind of legal recourse does Apple have? Is their only option to vent publicly to customers in the hope that Apple iPhone toting constituents affect change? And if so how?
They can refuse to follow the order. The judge would then find them in contempt, at which point they can appeal the order to the 9th Circuit, and then up to the Supreme Court.
Thanks, that’s makes sense!
I’m so impressed by Apple creating a public declaration on their stand in this debate. This is a well-crafted response to this issue and will stand with them on all votes that are called. I sincerely ask the governments of the world to back down and understand the consequences of a backdoor. Just imagine what would happen if it fell into the hands of China, North Korea or even Russia. US government please back down if you want your citizens to be safe because we know you will use this technology in the wrong way.
Yours sincerely Daniel
It doesn’t have to fall into their hands. Once the U.S. demands and gets their back door, China and Russia and everyone else would want that same access!!! You want to sell in this country, we want the same access!!! The U.S. Government can’t even protect it’s self from being hacked.
Amen, brother! Well said.
I thought that iOS was encrypted in a way that you cannot write software to unlock an already locked iPhone. They would have to add it to future generations of iOS.
It sounds like Apple is admitting that they can create a backdoor in the existing iOS, and if that is the case what is preventing anyone else from writing the same software Apple would?
Huge fan of Apple, please prove me wrong.
Apple has decrypted phones before under warrants. What they decrypted in those cases I have no idea.
Isn’t that pre ios 8 devices where Apple could access the encryption keys?
Only iOS 7 or below…Apple does not have the ability to unlock anyone’s phone with iOS 8 or later installed, even with a subpoena.
Well – as far as I know iOS prevents brute force attacks in two ways:
1. After you use wrong Passcode a few times then it lock for few minutes. If you then use again wrong passcode it locks for an hour – and so on. I don’t know what the upper limit is.
2. User can set that if wrong passcode is entered more than 10 times then the device wipes out its memory.
What I understood is FBI wants Apple to write some software to avoid waiting / wiping out the data from the device while trying to “brute force” the phone.
solid point, i’m really interested in the answer. to some of the commentators before me, the problem is getting the software on to the locked phone, they could issue an update to ios with the backdoor, but if ios is as secure as they say, it shouldn’t be possible to install it on to the locked phone.
Considering the US doesn’t respect the borders of individuals anywhere around the world, the ramifications of Apple giving into to these crooks, that’s what they are, crooks is huge. I have used Apple products for over 20 years, if Apple side with the dodgy US government over my rights, then we are done. The second point. iPhone is a big part of Apple revenue, if Apple sells out then that revenue is at risk.
Apple, don’t give in to the evil government! Long live Apple!
I’m glad I do not live in the United States … “democratic” country.
Given Apple is a US company, any changes to the OS to accomodate the US government will likely find its way into other countries devices, and other countries will put pressure on Apple if back doors exist to also get access. It’s a slippery slope where what happens in the US will have consequences elsewhere moving forward.
I know, but look other law in US. Fight terrorism, more control people.
To be fair though, this isn’t only coming from the US. Other countries are looking to make similar requests of companies.
So may we ask….what country do you live in?
Don’t know about the other guy, but I live in Australia, on the Gold Coast, near Brisbane. You can’t drive 10km without your cars number plate being read by electronic readers a few times.
I laugh every time someone says that about the US. How narrow minded to think the USA is the only country that does this or would spy on their citizens.
I don’t think he said it was the only one. The same kind of power has the same kind of ramifications, always. It’s just that in the U.S., huge segments of the population give endless amnesty to the government. The same people who, if they bought a toaster on Black Friday and it blew up, would instantly rush back to the store to return it.
US no only, but only one who can lock you up forever without being charged.
Then what’s the point of the comment….? Are we really suppose to believe that any country with the capability doesn’t spy on their citizens?
I bet that the US government hate the fact that Apple responds so publicly… It makes things so much harder for them when it is not behind closed doors as everyone knows how far the government will go…!!!
I definitely agree with Apples stance on this, secure networks and ways to communicate are way ahead of the laws, just take the PS network, it is well known as being secure for communication by terrorists… Yet we never hear of Sony being forced to reveal conversations that take place on there, but then voice is harder to actually use in such cases… Which comes back to the same for phones…! Surely the data from the phone companies would show more info of the type they require, like ip addresses phone numbers etc…!
Trank you Apple, thank you Tim!
One more thing.
One day Apple will find itself to make the decision to give up their customers privacy or leave the US. That’ll be the day I stop iOS updates and buy their iPhones. I hope this sad won’t come soon.
What an amazing worded letter. Tim wasn’t backwards about coming forward. Well done.
A sad day for privacy in a world riddled by people out to further manipulate others by gaining access to their information. America, we are now very cynical, to the point we trust you with nothing.
From Tim Cook’s Open Letter:
“Rather than asking for legislative action through Congress, the FBI is proposing an unprecedented use of the All Writs Act of 1789 to justify an expansion of its authority.
The government would have us remove security features and add new capabilities to the operating system, allowing a passcode to be input electronically. This would make it easier to unlock an iPhone by “brute force,” trying thousands or millions of combinations with the speed of a modern computer.
The implications of the government’s demands are chilling. If the government can use the All Writs Act to make it easier to unlock your iPhone, it would have the power to reach into anyone’s device to capture their data. The government could extend this breach of privacy and demand that Apple build surveillance software to intercept your messages, access your health records or financial data, track your location, or even access your phone’s microphone or camera without your knowledge.”
So now they’ve gone from all the “Secret Sweeping” that the Snowden NSA papers has revealed to trying to force the US Public to effectively have no doors that the government can’t unlock. This country has really gone over the edge – and I bet our Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves.
Screw the politicians – this country is sinking fast. YMMV – but I doubt it!
…the All Writs Act of 1789…
If you get enough laws on the books, it’s basically like the Bible or any sacred text. You can always find a passage in there that supports what you’re doing.
Wow this is another example of us moving to a proper “big brother” state.
If this happens then I’m going back to an old Nokia “dumbphone”. Our privacy is slowly being eroded by our governments and we need to make a stand…
Here is apple’s current policies for reference. Note that some policies are different depnding on where you live.
Privacy Page
http://www.apple.com/privacy/government-information-requests/
Legal Process Guidelines including for law enforcement
US: http://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/legal-process-guidelines-us.pdf
EMIA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) http://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/legal-process-guidelines-emeia.pdf
Japan & Asia Pacific: https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/legal-process-guidelines-apac.pdf
Can they just do an icloud restore to another device. Surely apple can change the icloud password for the FBI.
Thats assuming there’s a backup in the cloud. Not everyone backs up their phone.
This, more than any other reason right now, is why I’m a big Apple supporter and glad I have their devices. If they lose, and in all likelihood they very well may, we all lose.
Can other phone manufacturers be hacked by the government? Where do they stand on these issues?
I think it would be dangerous to allow a backdoor into your phone as Tim said a backdoor would be open to anyone and besides can you trust the FBI or the U.S government not to snoop at your personal information.
I am British so i will answer from a British point of view, Would i trust the British government not to spy on me Hell no i wouldn’t even trust the British government to make a cup of tea without screwing it up.
So i hope Apple stands up for what it believes in yes i know security matters but I’m sure the FBI and CIA Knew about the 9/11 bombers but as both agencies don’t talk to each other nothing was done and i believe even if they could hack phones they still wouldn’t stop 98% of the crime.
I don’t think people get this. Once the government gets access to the device, they have the keys to the kingdom. However Apple would be compelled to do this they have basically bypassed AES-256 bit encryption. This basically threatens the very tenants of the internet. Our government now would have the ability to decrypt any communication across the internet at will. Our secure transactions for banking, email, health records, iMessage, phone, etc… would never be secure any more.
What’s more the government can at will continue to violate our constitutional rights at will, all in the name of safety.
What a crock of crap. We aren’t just talking about ‘anyone’, we are talking about a terrorist who killed people and was in the process of attempting to carry out other attacks within the US. A lot of you are quick to give Apple the thumbs up on this one, but you are quick to point a finger at the government when it comes to terrorism and who’s responsible when they attack. You can’t have it both ways, if you don’t want the government to have the capability to get a court order to have apple open this PROVEN TERRORIST phone then you have lost all site. Except of course, if it was one of your family members or friends that were killed, I assume your tune would be different then.
Talking bout terrorism one should never forget who gets the real profit out of it. What does act of terrorism mean for the population of the country? Fear, insecurity, defenselessness. What does act of terrorism mean for the government of the country? More money to spend, more support from/control over population, less focus on internal problems. So for people it’s always a loose-loose and for government it’s a win-win. Apple here trying to deny the U.S. government a small chunk of its win-win for the sake of U.S. people. They’re doing the right thing.
Anyone who takes away someone’s human rights by committing such crimes has no right to privacy. This is national and even world security. Apple should take their heads out of their asses and just get on with it. If you have nothing to hide it shouldn’t matter.
Pretty fed up with human rights and privacy activist who support terrorism and criminals.
It is scary that this choice seemingly is up to one man, Tim Cook. What if someone with a different opinion was in charge?
Dear Mr. Cook,
Long before digital encryption was a tool in the hands of the public, homes, automobiles, and other personal areas had physical encryption — and still do. Keys, combinations, and other measures have long been available to secure what is rightfully ours.
The precedent has long been set and supported by the courts and our communities that when a crime is committed, those protections — whether door locks or safes or any other security measure — can be overridden as part of the investigation.
While I agree with you in principle, the fact is that you have at your disposal the means to override the security of an iPhone and extract data. You can then provide it to the authorities without providing them with the means to access the data of others.
This is your moment to act as the mediator between the innocent and the authorities, some of whom have and will gladly again violate our privacy at will.
Please take the phone, get the data, deliver it and move on. Provide this service for the FBI before Congress passes a law that strips your extremely important position and leverage away from you completely. Worse, they could seek to indict Apple or you for impeding a terror investigation.
Please accept that middle ground and stand firm on that instead. Right now you’re on a hill where your stand cannot endure and in fairness to precedent and the community that has suffered at the hands of terrorists, probably shouldn’t. You hold the keys. Better to use them selectively than to turn them over completely to your adversaries.
Thank you.
Yeah of course, only in America iPhones kill people but guns don’t.
As long as almost everybody can buy a gun to “protect” (because gun buyers are of course friendly people and never terrorists) and iPhone users have to get their data decrypted because they are potential terrorists (so they are “bad and dangerous people”) something is very wrong in that country!
These people are not suspected of terrorism, they did it. Apple is make sure there devices are the choice of terrorists. Wait until they lose the first lawsuit against them. There tune will change.
Oh please,.. Most Terrorist don’t even use encryption. It’s already out in the open as clear as day and it doesn’t help stop the crime. You know what you get creating a hole in the Encryption? The 99% of the population that aren’t terrorists or Child Molesters. Yet you now just opened them up to being spied on for all their personal data not only from the U.S. Government but any other country that will now request that same access. So now you have Backdoor keys not only flying all around the U.S. to who knows how many people, but all over the world, and then to Criminals, where now they have access to all your Personal Data to steal from you or worse.
While all that is going on, the Terrorists will just buy cheap Android phones and using Encryption easily installed onto them that have NO BACK DOORS and there’s not a thing the U.S. Government could do about it. So the only people actually protected are the terrorists and most everyone else in the world is just being spied on by Governments around the world and screwed over by Criminals. The U.S. Government can’t even protect it’s self.
They don’t use encryption, really! You need to pay better attention and take the tin foil hat off.
So I work for a privacy and data security company, and backdoors are nothing new, but they’ve ALWAYS been a hotly debated topic in privacy. What the FBI is now suggesting is like a super backdoor and, besides making millions of peoples’ data vulnerable, it would be a ginormous breach of trust with consumers. In a recent survey, 91% of respondents said that privacy is important to them. It’s a bad idea both for the FBI and for Apple.
That’s the public letter. Privately, I am sure Apple is already cooperating under threats made by the FBI and whoever else. And once the FBI hacks into the phone, what are they going to find? Just selfies of this guy and his wife and banal messages. There isn’t going to be anything there that is going to lead the FBI to ISIS or anywhere else. Criminals and terrorists have gotten smarter, not dumber.
Apple is really about profits. What it’s doing now is posing as the champion of privacy. However, in order to get into the Chinese market, they have agreed to everything including what the FBI wants here. They really have a double standard here. They go for the money……..
Google is really about profits… profiting by profiling its products… I mean profiling its “customers”, who are even so stupid as to pay Google money for the privilege.
In case you didn’t realize it, you’re really about profits, too. You just don’t do anything nearly as worthwhile as all of Apple.
Don’t give in, this is too important. If Apple caves on this I might as well by all Android devices. The reason I own Apple is because of Privacy. Apple will violate all trust if this is allowed to happen.
The Wannabe King (Trump) is against Apple. (ooh! scary weedo man!) Yeah, so Apple may ultimately lose this case, just as the government has won other cases involving smartphones and the All Writs Act. But this case needs to be fought hard in court. If Apple creates a special version of the iPhone 5c software for the FBI, the government will soon have its hands on it and be able to unlock any 5c… without any significant legal hardship at all.
Yes? And? Whats the harm in this really? Trust me, the FBI aren’t interested in your vacation photos or your phone list, but if you’re a criminal or ISIS, it sure as hell helps ALOT to protect us all from future attacks.
I’m quite confused by the letter… it basically says that Apple can break into any iPhone, if they want it. Before this letter Tim Cook always said that they can not break into the iPhone even if they wanted it, that’s how encrypted disks works, the key is encrypted by the passcode and if you don’t know the passcode you can not access the disk, no matter your intention. So is Apple encrypting the keys inside the iPhone or not?
I read an interesting article (http://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/02/17/apple-can-comply-with-the-fbi-court-order/) that explain technical details of the FBI requests. They don’t request Apple to break in but just to let them try to brute force the PIN or passcode protecting the device. If the device was protected by a 4 or 6 digit PIN they will crack into the device in a matter of hours, but if it is protected by a passcode they will never be able to brute force it…
I hope the US justice system and FBI prevail. They have far far far more experience and man hours devoted to catching criminals than Apple has – which all its done is make devices. So Apple should comply asap and help make the world a better place. I don’t see how Tim Cook can even pretend to know what he’s talking about – liberties and freedom blah blah, when he has 0% experience in law enforcement.
Tim Cook just became my hero! Thank you Apple for protecting what is left of our privacy!
Kudos to Tim!
Admiral Rogers, Director of NSA with Murdoch and Tim Cook – must have been quite a party. The reality is all these folks are cordial and engaged in genuine intellectual discourse over important issues. It’s not nearly as heated as the media reports.