Apple CEO Tim Cook vowed Wednesday to fight a federal court order to unlock California terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook’s iPhone — setting the stage for an epic battle between law enforcement agencies and privacy advocates.
The unprecedented clash could affect millions of cellphone users across the US by creating what Cook called a “back door” into iPhones that hold everything from banking passwords to embarrassing photos.
“In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession,” Cook warned in an open letter to Apple customers.
“The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices.”
The outcome will ripple across the globe, with Russia, China and other authoritarian governments the big winners if Apple fails to overturn the order handed down late Tuesday.
“Why in the world would our government want to give repressive regimes in Russia and China a blueprint for forcing American companies to create a back door?” US Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a leader on tech and privacy issues, told the Guardian.
The case involves a work-issued iPhone 5C carried by Farook, a homegrown ISIS supporter who went on a December shooting rampage with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, that killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., before the couple was gunned down in a shootout with cops.
California US Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym, a former federal prosecutor, sided with the Justice Department, which said investigators had been stymied by encryption software on Farook’s iPhone that is instructed to erase its data after 10 consecutive unsuccessful attempts to unlock it.
Agents want to retrace the couple’s movements between the time of the massacre and their deaths — and find out if they got outside help.
Pym ordered Apple to create special software so the FBI could bypass the self-destruct feature, along with a “unique identifier” to prevent it from being used to unlock other iPhones.
Pym also gave Apple five days to appeal her order. As a jurist on the lowest rung of the federal court system, her ruling can’t set a binding precedent without being affirmed by higher courts.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai sided with business rival Cook, tweeting: “We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders.”
“But that’s wholly different than requiring companies to enable hacking of customer devices and data. Could be a troubling precedent,” he added.
But NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton hailed Pym’s decision, saying that “the right to privacy is not a total right in the sense that if it is being used for criminal purposes, that’s where the courts come into play.”
Donald Trump, the Republican presidential primary front-runner, also said he agreed “100 percent with the courts.”
“It’s ridiculous that the government has to be put in a position where if they have information about a possible attack, we waste a second,” he said.
Gary Miliefsky of SnoopWall, a counter-cybercrime company that works with police departments, governments and banks, among others, predicted disaster if Apple lost the case.
“The iPhone is a Cadillac with six airbags. If they backdoor it, they’ve turned it into a Ford Pinto,” Miliefsky said.