Apple has rejected the US court orders, which ruled out Apple to help Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) provide access to the data belonging to Rizwan Farook, the gunman involved in San Bernardino shooting, last year.
According to a statement released by the iPhone maker, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said, “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”, he said.
According to BBC, in 2014, Apple changed its security settings on its devices, making data including text messages and photographs encrypted by default. The data can only be accessed by the user's passcode, if a device is locked. If 10 incorrect attempts at the code are made the device automatically erase all of its data.
“For many years, we have used encryption to protect our customers’ personal data because we believe it’s the only way to keep their information safe. We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.” Tim Cook said in the statement.
On the other hand, FBI has asked Apple to do two things i.e. first, it wants the company to change Farook's iPhone, so that investigators can make unlimited attempts at the passcode, without the danger of data erasing. Secondly, it wants Apple to help devise a way to rapidly try different passcode combinations, to save tapping in each one manually.
“The FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation,” wrote the CEO.
“The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers.”
However, it said “opposing this order is not something we take lightly. We feel we must speak up in the face of what we see as an overreach by the U.S. government.” Further Cook said, “We are challenging the FBI’s demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country.”
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