@sunshine 919 wrote:
@Cha1k wrote:
@sunshine 919 wrote:
I think the FBI should just get someone else to do it and keep Apple out of it. Not understanding why Apple thinks they are bigger than the law. A court order is a court order. I think anyone else would be arrested.
Well, part of the problem is that the FBI tried to handle it their own way instead of contacting Apple sooner. The FBI instructed the San Bernidino county health department (owner of the phone) to change the iPhone's iCloud password before Apple was contacted.
If they had brought Apple into the equation earlier more information would have been available from that phone.
I did hear something about that. I heard the reason Apple had helped in the past is because they were contacted personally. This time it seems to have gotten out of hand. Maybe they would have helped if no one knew they were helping. Who knows.
You have hit on a key issue, I believe. Apple has been very cooperative in the past with law enforcement. Apple would have provided the FBI with all the information they had access to, but many pieces of info were not available after that password was changed.
It's a delicate balancing act for a technology company these days, especially since Edward Snowden blew the cover off how much the NSA was spying on ordinary citizens (not just criminals) of the United States.
After the NSA revelations, tech companies changed their encryption policies to protect individual rights to privacy. Apple initiated stringent encryption that even they cannot access without the PassCode to an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.
As a private citizen I like having my information, contacts, calendar, messages, notes, and credit cards encrypted on my iPhone and Watch. I use my iPhone or Watch to pay for purchases using Apple Pay. Using that digital payment method means that my credit card number is not shared with the merchant. They know nothing about me -- other than the fact that I have funds available to pay the bill.
And, I also want law enforcement to protect me and my family from harm.
There has to be a way that the two sides can come to an agreement on the best way to proceed in this digital age without resorting to the courts to force a company to abandon their rights to free speech (there are court cases that set precedent indicating that computer code is a form of speech). Apple has encouraged such a 'meeting of minds' from both sides to sort through this conflict. So far, law enforcement hasn't given any indication they are willing to engage in discussion.
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