Apple CEO asked to testify on unlocking iPhone encryption

The prosecutors’ response suggests they believe Apple is thinking more about marketing strategy than lofty principles.

The government has been unable to extract information from the device that could shed light on communications the terrorists may have had with others before and after the December 2nd attack at the Inland Regional Center.

Although Apple believes the FBI’s intentions are good, Cook said it would be wrong for the government to force the company to build a backdoor into its products. Admirably, Apple has pledged to fight the court order, which threatens to set a unsafe precedent.

The assertions, contained in a court motion, further escalate what has become a high-profile, increasingly bitter clash between the US government and one of the world’s most-recognized companies.

In the “motion to compel” filed on Friday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, federal prosecutors say that allowing Apple to deny their request would thwart an investigation into a terrorist attack. By placing the ultimate ability to unlock a phone exclusively into the hands of its consumers, Apple has decreased the likelihood that an inadvertent security breach will result in a bad actor getting information about how to unlock any iPhone at any time. The software would allow authorities to retrieve personal banking passwords, photos and other information.

“Apple has recourse to fight the request through an independent judiciary and Tim Cook feels confident that he can argue publicly against the US government request without fear that Apple’s business will be materially damaged by a retributive government”, said Bill Bishop, an entrepreneur and leading China watcher formerly based in Beijing.

The government “asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too risky to create”, he wrote.

“We have to look and see what’s going on”.

In its filing Friday, the Justice Department dismissed this contention, saying that Apple would “retain custody of its software at all times” without compromising the security of iPhones.

A spokesman for the company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. “The reality is that it will affect all these companies, including Apple, Google and Microsoft”. The Justice Department states in its filing that Apple has recognized the act in the past and helped search devices running earlier versions of its operating systems.

Apple’s acceptance of the law appears to be uneven; this is not the first time it has sought to avoid compliance with a lawful court order.

Federal investigators have been unable to unlock the phone, which means they have not been able to access the data stored on the phone and not backed up anywhere else.

The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation told lawmakers last week that the 10-digit-code of the phone in question could not be decrypted.

“It helps them with users who appreciate their stance on data security but it also will anger a lot of people who have a different political viewpoint on the issue”, Matte said.

The government has only been able to obtain incomplete backup iCloud data from Farook’s phone up until October 19, a month and a half before the attack, according to the Justice Department’s court filing.

“The phone’s not even owned by this young thug that killed all these people”.

The FBI wants Apple to develop new software without the passcode safeguards and transmit it to the target phone.

“We’re gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries”, Trump said in a January speech at Liberty University in Virginia. All federal contracts with Apple should be canceled.