US ramps up fight with Apple over Calif. shooter's phone
The US Justice Department has filed a motion seeking to force Apple Inc. to comply with a judge's order to unlock the encrypted iPhone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack.
On February 16, a federal judge ordered the giant tech company to assist the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in opening Syed Rizwan Farook’s phone.
Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were shot dead in a shootout with police hours after the massacre in a Department of Public Health training event and holiday party on December 2, 2015, which left 14 dead and 22 injured.
“The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand,” Tim Cook, the company’s chief executive, said on Thursday.
A senior Apple executive, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, said Friday that the US Congress is the right place for a debate over encryption not a courtroom.
The intensifying battle between the US government and America’s most valuable company has spread to the race for president, with Republican front-runner Donald Trump calling for a public boycott of Apple until it complied with the order.
Apple has argued that helping crack the phone in question would lead to less secure iPhones for all customers and that current law does not force the company to comply.
The Justice Department framed Apple’s refusal to comply as a "marketing strategy."
FBI experts fear losing the data on the phone after several failed attempts to enter the password, arguing only Apple can solve the problem.
A federal court hearing on the issue has been scheduled for March 22 in California.
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