A request filed Monday October 19, 2015 asked Apple to help prosecutors access a seized iPhone. The company told a federal judge that it “would be impossible” to access data on a phone running one of the newer operating systems. But in this case, the iPhone under investigation is running on the iOS 7, meaning that Apple does technically possess the ability to decrypt the phone, but it would simply prefer not to.
Apple said in a statement:
“In most cases now and in the future, the government’s requested order would be substantially burdensome, as it would be impossible to perform. For devices running iOS 8 or higher, Apple would not have the technical ability to do what the government requests—take possession of a password protected device from the government and extract unencrypted user data from that device for the government. Among the security features in iOS 8 is a feature that prevents anyone without the device’s passcode from accessing the device’s encrypted data. This includes Apple.”
The feature was adopted in 2014 after privacy concerns heightened when leaks by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden were made regarding NSA surveillance programs.
Apple does have the capacity to access some user-generated files in Apple’s native apps on phones running iOS 7 and older operating systems, but it can’t extract email, calendar entries, or any third-party app data. The company also has the ability to decrypt iOS 7 phones, but chooses not to on the basis of maintaining customer trust.
It is unclear why the Justice Department is seeking access to the iPhone; the details remain under seal.
“Forcing Apple to extract data in this case, absent clear legal authority to do so, could threaten the trust between Apple and its customers and substantially tarnish the Apple brand,” according to the brief, signed by Apple’s outside counsel Ken Dreifach, Marc Zwillinger and Jeffrey Landis. “This reputational harm could have a longer term economic impact beyond the mere cost of performing the single extraction at issue.”
Apple does not allow intelligence agencies to access data via “back doors” in its software, according to the company’s CEO, Tim Cook. He said it would be beneficial if it only exposed the bad guys, but that’s not the case.
“And so what I’m convinced of is that it’s in everyone’s best interest that everybody is blocked out,” Cook said.
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