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Husband of San Bernardino survivor says it’s ‘unlikely’ terrorist’s iPhone contains any valuable info

iphone-5c

Throughout Apple’s fight with the FBI over unlocking an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino gunmen, many have doubted the likelihood that there’s anything valuable on the device to begin with. The iPhone 5c used by the gunman was issued by the County of San Bernardino, which gives iPhones to all of its employees. Now, the husband to a survivor of the fatal attacks has spoken out and written a letter, obtained by BuzzFeed, to the court explaining that there is likely nothing of note on the iPhone in question.

Salihin Kondoker is the husband of Anies Kondoker who was shot three times during the attacks last December, but was able to survive despite a “very difficult path to recovery.” In his letter to the court, Kondoker explained that his wife also had an iPhone issued by the County and that because it was a work phone, she did not use it for any sort of personal communication.

Kondoker explained that the County had control over every aspect of the device. They tracked it in case they needed to see where people were, they controlled the iCloud account, and they controlled the carrier account. This was “common knowledge” to all employees, Kondoker explained, leading him to question why the attackers would use the device to store sensitive information.

“This was a work phone. My wife also had an iPhone issued by the County and she did not use it for any personal communication. San Bernardino is one of the largest Counties in the country. They can track the phone on GPS in case they needed to determine where people were. Second, both the iCloud account and carrier account were controlled by the county so they could track any communications. This was common knowledge among my wife and other employees.

Why then would someone store vital contacts related to an attack on a phone they knew the county had access to? They destroyed their personal phones after the attack. And I believe they did that for a reason. In my opinion it is unlikely there is any valuable information on this phone.”

Kondoker went on to explain that he believes the FBI had and still has access to a variety of information that it has ignored. “I’m very disappointed in the way they’ve handled this investigation,” Kondoker stated. Apple itself even hinted at an FBI screwup two weeks ago, saying that the Apple ID password to the iPhone was changed shortly after the device went into government possession.

The FBI has wavered on its beliefs as to whether or not the iPhone 5c in question holds any information of value. “Maybe the phone holds the clue to finding more terrorists,” FBI Director James Comey has stated. “Maybe it doesn’t. But we can’t look the survivors in the eye, or ourselves in the mirror, if we don’t follow this lead.” San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan also stated that there’s a “good chance that there is nothing of value on the phone.”

Kondoker concludes by saying that he supports Apple in its fight for privacy and hopes that the court will too. “America should be proud of Apple. Proud that it is an American company and we should protect them and not try to tear them down,” Kondoker wrote. “I support them in this case and I hope the court will too.”

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Comments

  1. yojimbo007 - 8 years ago

    And how does he know this ?

    • ibanks3 - 8 years ago

      He doesn’t. That’s why he have his opinion.

      • yojimbo007 - 8 years ago

        I stand corrected..
        My appologies .. Did not mean to insult anyone..
        Semantics issue…. misunderstood by me… ✌

    • jonrhys - 8 years ago

      How does he know what? He’s expressing his opinion that the phone is “unlikely” to contain any information of value based on the fact that his wife worked for the same employer and never used her work phone for personal matters.
      Or maybe you were referring to him knowing that Apple is an American company? I have no idea how he knows that. 😉

      • yojimbo007 - 8 years ago

        I stand corrected..
        My appologies .. Did not mean to insult anyone..
        Semantics issue…. misunderstood by me… ✌

  2. iali87 - 8 years ago

    How is that? All those weapons mean that there was such a big plan. A plan is usually set by more than just a man and his wife.

    • PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

      Usually these plans are discussed face to face. And when distance is an issue, a dumb phone is used. Like in the Paris attacks.

    • jonrhys - 8 years ago

      I don’t think that anybody debates that. The husband just thinks that it is probably more likely that any information would’ve been on their two personal phones (which as far as I can gather from the News reported on this they destroyed before the attacks). This definitely seems more plausible to me as opposed to the alternative which was the only phone he didn’t destroy iwas the one that contained all of the pertinent information

      • jonrhys - 8 years ago

        I should also point out, however, that I’m not so sure it matters what’s on there. I’m of the opinion that Apple should not be forced to help unlock this or other phones regardless. It just seems too short sighted and likely to have very serious implications for the privacy of users not just those in the US but the world. I don’t buy the security service’s approach of ‘just trust us to not abuse this power’ as they have shown time and time again that they are simply not to be let loose with absolutely no oversight.

  3. 89p13 - 8 years ago

    “I’m very disappointed in the way they’ve handled this investigation,” Kondoker stated.

    And the fact that he’s filed a friend of the court brief siding with Apple in its dispute with the FBI – Kudo’s for adding to the discussion of the “Needs of the many versus the needs of the few!” And – IMO – The few in this case are the FBI and all the other government agencies looking to “cash in” on this case to remove yet more of our personal freedoms.

    YMMV

  4. “…Proud that it is an American company and we should protect them and not question their accounting tricks and loopholes that keeps their pile of cash offshore while holding a flag up and telling everyone how awesome they are.” Sorry your wife got shot dude, but hey, it least *her* iPhone is okay.”

  5. Vincent Conroy - 8 years ago

    The issue isn’t whether this attack had more people involved. It probably did. The question is how likely it is the iPhone in the FBI’s possession contains any useful data (that has not already been extracted from the retrieved iCloud backups) could help the FBI track the other accomplices. Of course there is no way of knowing that without unlocking the phone. I also don’t think we should be taking a survivor’s spouse as an end-all-be-all answer. But having an idea of the county’s control over the iPhone does help put the risk/reward in perspective when it comes to how far either side will go to pursue unlocking this device (or not unlocking it).

  6. chopingman - 8 years ago

    Oh God! It’s the internet I guess so everyone gets to chime in and someone will write about it. Who could possibly care what the “husband of a survivor” thinks about what might or might not be on a terrorists phone?

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com