Apple CEO Tim Cook asks FBI to end iPhone unlock case
Apple CEO Tim Cook pleads in a memo to all Apple employees and the FBI to end the demand that the company cooperate in making data available on the iPhone of a San Bernardino attacker.
In the memo in which Cook thanked the employees for their support, he suggests creating a committee or other panel of experts to look at issues related to intelligence, technology and civil rights. However, the requirements under the so-called All Writes Act that are now in force must be withdrawn. Then, in such a committee, a discussion can take place about the implications for law enforcement, national security, privacy and personal freedom. Apple would like to participate in such a debate, Cook states at the end of his letter. The committee proposed by Cook, he said, was also proposed by some congressmen.
Dating back to 1789, the All Writs Act allows the federal courts of the United States to pull out all the stops to compel someone or a company to do as it asks.
Apple has also set up a public Q&A for customers to answer questions about the facts of the case and Apple’s position in it. The company is also trying to refute the FBI’s arguments that what it’s asking Apple to do isn’t such a big deal at all.
The FBI does not state at all that it wants to crack everyone’s encryption or demand a master key. Also, according to FBI chief James Comey, public safety decisions should not be made by corporations that ‘sell stuff for a living’.
Apple counters that while the FBI claims not to want a master key, this is exactly what they would get because, unlike the physical world, it is not possible to destroy a once-made technique in the digital world. Cook likens it to the physical world where the key can unlock hundreds of millions of locks.
The Cupertino company also says it has done everything in its power to help the FBI. One of the best options for recovering data was connecting to a network that was previously connected, which would make it possible to run a backup. It turned out that the phone’s Apple ID password had been changed while the phone was in the FBI’s possession. Because the password was changed, it was no longer possible to connect to the iCloud services.
The case concerns the iPhone 5c of the man who shot 14 people in San Bernardino in December. The FBI can’t access the data and the organization can’t crack the phone either. Apple would therefore have to develop special firmware to access the data.