Obtained via Buzzfeed, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent a memo this morning to employees reaffirming its position against the government in the Apple/FBI iPhone backdoor case. He thanks Apple employees and feedback from customers for their public support and says that whilst Apple has no sympathy for terrorists, the data security of hundreds of millions of law-abiding citizens is threatened by the government order.
Apple wants the government to withdraw its demands justified by the All Writs Act and encourages an open discussion between law enforcement, technology and privacy experts on privacy issues. In addition, Apple has posted an expanded question and answers page as a followup to Tim Cook’s original open letter to better inform the public of the situation.
In the memo, Cook openly notes that it does not feel right to be fighting against the government when defending constitutional liberties and freedoms.
Apple is a uniquely American company. It does not feel right to be on the opposite side of the government in a case centering on the freedoms and liberties that government is meant to protect.
Cook says some members of Congress want Apple to backtrack on its encryption policies in iOS, particularly the changes made in iOS 8 which prevent iPhone data from being decrypted at all without the correct passcode.
Cook clearly says that going back on this is not an option for them: ‘We all know that turning back the clock on that progress would be a terrible idea’. Many expect Apple to double down on further lockdown security features in the next versions of iOS and future iPhone hardware. The memo also reinforces Apple’s view that the problem is not so much the actions of this particular case, but the ‘dangerous precedent’ creating a backdoor will mean for future legal cases.
Apple is required to post a formal response in court by the end of the week. It is expected to refute the government order. The victims of the San Bernardino shooting have mixed feelings on whether they think Apple should be compelled to comply to the court order and create a backdoor into the suspect’s iPhone.
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I hope for all, that Apple will win this “battle”.
Does anyone even care about the sumsung Galaxy S7s none of have anything to say about how the good camera
WTF are you talking about in a discussion about a complete different subject…
While I agree with Apple 100% on the substance I also think it’s genius to keep this in the news as it takes focus off of the announcements at MWC.
From another posted discussion:
“It would be one thing if Apple could carry out a court order that it unlock an iPhone used by the San Bernardino terrorists simply by waving a magic wand. But encryption isn’t magic; the order requires Apple to write and digitally sign a security-degraded version of its iOS operating system. That raises serious First Amendment concerns because the order amounts to a government-compelled speech.
The FBI picked this fight to set a precedent. For years, it’s been locked in a “crypto war” with Silicon Valley over how to provide law enforcement access to users’ data. So far, Apple, Google, and other companies have rebuffed demands to implement government back doors that defeat encryption and other security measures, arguing that such bypasses weaken security and facilitate abuses by criminals, corporate spies and foreign governments.
Apparently unable to identify a true ticking-time-bomb scenario to bring to court, the FBI settled for the next best thing: obtaining encrypted data off the workplace phone of shooter Syed Farook. The phone’s encryption is keyed to a passcode, and Apple’s software erases data after ten incorrect passcode attempts. So the government, relying on an aggressive reading of the 1789 All Writs Act, obtained an order directing Apple to “bypass or disable the auto-erase function” and make it possible to cycle through all possible passcodes.
While the FBI has previously obtained warrants requiring Apple to extract unencrypted data from devices running older software, this appears to be the first time that it has sought to conscript a company to write new software to circumvent security features. If it prevails, such a precedent will govern future cases.
That makes it all the more important that the courts get the legal principles right this time around. Overlooked so far in this debate is the First Amendment’s prohibition on compelled speech. The Supreme Court has affirmed time and again that the right to free speech includes the right not only decide what to say but also what not to say. Representative cases have upheld the right of parade organizers to bar messages they disapprove and of public employees to refuse to subsidize unions’ political speech.
Computer code can be speech: no less than video games (which the Supreme Court found to be protected), code can convey ideas and even social messages. A new encryption algorithm or mathematical technique, for example, does not lose its character as speech merely because it is expressed in a computer language instead of English prose.
That’s not to say that all code is absolutely protected. But there’s a strong case to be made where code embodies deeply held views on issues of public policy and individual rights — such as the right to be free from government surveillance. Forcing a person to write code to crack his own software is little different from demanding that he endorse the principle of doing so.
And that leads to the most troubling aspect of the court order: it does, in fact, demand that Apple endorse the government’s views by requiring that it digitally sign the software so that it can run on an iPhone. A signature speaks volumes: agreement, endorsement, trust, obligation. Apple says all those things when it decides to sign a new version of its operating system.
The government can’t force a person to sign a petition and endorse a political view. But that is exactly what it demands here: to compel Apple to endorse a version of its own software that runs precisely counter to its values. At the very least, that is one more reason for a court to reject the government’s aggressive legal position in this case.”
David B. Rivkin, Jr. is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and Andrew M. Grossman is an adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute. Both are lawyers in Washington D.C.
So proud of Apple. Honestly wish I could thank Tim Cook and the whole Apple team!
We are in dangerous times where we face losing our freedom. As much as I condemn the act of terrorism! But it should not be used as an excuse for the government to invade our privacy!
Relax Max. You’re not losing any freedom whatsoever. You’re still free to do as you want. Should you do something criminal, then its another story, something the rest of us are grateful for that you’ll be caught!
Also, Andre… NSA is listening in on all my calls and emails/tweets/posts, etc… and I aint done shit…
So, why are they listening?
That’s the loss of a freedom…
@fitkingrichard, I highly doubt NSA is interested in your calls, emails, tweets, posts e.t.c. Really, you need to get a grip on reality.
And even if they should be “listening”, you’re still free to do whatever you want.
Wrong Andre. It’s if you are ACCUSED of doing something criminal. That’s very different.
@alfredprunesquallor, sure, its different, but being accused of something, they should be allowed to investigate no? I mean, if you’re innocent, then let them.
I really feel for the victums families because of the utter incompetency of these paid bureaucrats and elected decision makers making a public spectical out of all this, which is another example their utter incompetency.
Apple wins kudos for standing up to morons. We need to elect public officials that have technological compentency. Before they can even get on the ballot, they should be required to pass a basic technology certification exam.
Government officials from San Bernardino IT Department reset the Apple ID password? Seriously San Bernardino? Also, this would not even be an issue if San Bernardino County installed MDM software on their devices.
We wouldn’t be having this conversation at all if someone at the State Department did sufficient due diligence on the K-1 visa applicaiton in the first place!
Government fails, so lets pull some absure law out of our posteriors to make the private sector bail us out and they can pay for the mistake instead.
The public should be calling for the IMMEDIATE TERMINATION w/o BENEFITS or SEVERANCE of:
> ANYONE that touched the K-1 visa application at the State Department
> San Bernardino Officials responsible for resetting the Apple ID password
> FBI Director James B. Comey for seeking to undermine the covenants of the Bill of Rights and The United States Constitution
We have not elected Tim Cook to decide what laws to enforce. Apple spies on it’s own customers, yet they are defiant and make a media circus out of helping the FBI. Corporate America is out of control. No real difference between Cook and Trump. Both are overpaid ego-maniacs who believe and act like they are above the law. This issue is not about 4th amendment protection.
Exactly!!
Boo! Just unlock iPhones and be done with it. This is becoming more and more attention-seeking-whorism. Really, there is no “stance” or something magically “ethical” that Apple is doing here. Its rumour generating more sales for iPhones using scare mongering. People in courts, congress and government don’t just get such jobs for being incompetent. As if Apple knows anything about law enforcement, or peoples rights. Unlock the damn phones and be done with it!!
I am a victim of the utter incompetence of the US Goverment regarding cyber security. Virtually all of my personal information is in the wild due to the OPM breach, including that involving my security clearance. If you for a moment thing the USG should have the capability to break into any phone they want, please think again.
Never heard of you or your “personal information”. Please, dont succumb to paranoia. I once bought something off eBay and the seller was taking an awful long time of sending the item. So in one of his messages to me, he wrote his phone number. So I called him (from Europe to USA – I checked the time difference first) and the first thing the idiot shouted was: “HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THIS NUMBER?!?!?!?”. I swear, Americans are absolutely so intensely deliberate about this “freedom” thing its getting quite unbearable.
I repeat, you DONT lose freedom, just because a court order can search your phone.
Trust me, no-one cares that you have some emails from Mr & Mrs Smith, or your bills or anything at all.
“Apple is a uniquely American company. It does not feel right to be on the opposite side of the government in a case centering on the freedoms and liberties that government is meant to protect.”
And that about sums up the issue.
Cook pretends that privacy is the only issue. In reality the government is meant to protect both privacy and public safety – they have to weigh them off and find a balance. That Apple is only feigning a commitment to one issue without regard to the other is irresponsible. No one else does that. Speak to your doctor and they keep it confidential. Commit a serious crime and the cops ask for your medical records – with a warrant – and the doctor hands it over. No one takes the irresponsible position taken by Apple.
Apple taking that position as a marketing ploy just makes it worse. No matter how much this hikes their sales, it’s just plain irresponsible.
I’m an Apple customer. I’m all for their position on not using our personal data for ads and marketing. I support their position on resisting mass interception of the communications by honest citizens. But deliberately obstructing law enforcement even when they have a lawful warrant for an individual person/device is irresponsible.
This is not just about one phone, the government wants a backdoor so it can access ALL phones at any time whenever it wants without having to tell anyone. Sorry, but, that is against the Constitution of the US, which has already been trampled on by the US government, FBI and CIA since 9/11. Enough is enough. People are fed up with the snooping and spying being done by their own government in the name of “terrorism.” This is fascism, and people like you are only helping them.
“Apple is a uniquely American company”, completely failing to mention that almost everything they manufacture is made abroad, and most of their profit is in foreign bank accounts.
Uniquely American indeed.
Grow up, Aunty Tool. There corporate and design HQ are in the US. Their main customer base is in the US.
Aunty T has a point though. And even Apple is a culprit of this. Their money is tied up in Ireland. So much for Apple being patriotic.
Every one keeps forgetting one major problem with the whole case of FBI wanting a custom firmware. How they going to install it on the phone? iOS devices require the password to be entered before they even begin to install any firmware weather it threw iTunes or OTA. Only way around that is DFU which wipes the phone.