By Joe Nelson and Liset Márquez, San Bernardino County Sun
Leaders in the technology community stopped short of declaring a victory in the battle for privacy as the Department of Justice said Monday it no longer needed Apple’s help to unlock the San Bernardino attacker’s iPhone.
The Department of Justice had wanted the technology giant to build special software that would allow the FBI to unlock the encrypted work-issued iPhone 5C used by San Bernardino mass shooting gunman Syed Rizwan Farook. But Apple argued that building the software sought by the FBI will create a “master key” enabling hackers to unlock millions of other iPhones and breach the data security of its customers.
Lisa Hayes, vice president of programs and strategies for Washington D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology, said Monday’s announcement by the government was a “short-term win for Apple.”
“The case was getting bigger and bigger — the hearing was turned into an evidentiary hearing — and to suddenly have it postponed, it was a surprise,” Hayes said.
Though the Justice Department would not disclose Monday the method it is using to try to unlock the iPhone, Hayes was skeptical that the government, if it does have some overriding technology, could unlock the phone by April 5.
“I would not be surprised if they were back in court in the next two weeks rescheduling this hearing,” she said.
Kurt Opsahl, general counsel for the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, called Monday’s developments “good news” because a legal precedent requiring companies to write back doors is incredibly dangerous to the security of millions.
“This case was always about more than access to a single phone. It was an attempt to set a legal precedent that requires any company to undermine their users’ security at the FBI’s request,” Opsahl said in a statement. “Security is vital to protect the information on your phone, and the FBI should work to enhance user security, not against it.”
Evan Greer, campaign director for the digital rights group Fight for the Future, said in a statement Monday that the case was never about an iPhone, but a “grab for power” by the government.
“The FBI already had the capability to hack this phone using forensic tools, but they thought this case would be a slam dunk — a way for them to set a dangerous precedent that they’ve wanted for years,” Greer said.
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©2016 the San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, Calif.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
