DOJ Attempts to Force Apple's Cooperation, Calls Our Data Security a 'Marketing' Concern, Hopes We Ignore the Big Picture
The government wants what it wants, consequences be damned.
The Department of Justice is not waiting for Apple to file its formal objections to a judge's order that they assist the FBI in getting access to the contents of San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook's iPhone. They've just filed a brief asking a judge in California to compel the company's cooperation.
The DOJ is objecting to the characterization by Apple CEO Tim Cook that what the government is asking for could threaten the security of other apple products or of everybody else's data privacy:
It's one of those arguments that is technically correct yet hopes that everybody (or the judge, at least) ignores the entire encryption debate going on. Senators are literally right now drafting laws that would force tech companies to weaken encryption. We know full well that while the Farook case may be unique in its particulars, it is absurd to attempt to argue to act as though this will be an isolated request. And it, like many defenders of the order, hopes to disguise the issue with legalese. They're not making Apple create "back doors" into encryption! They're just making Apple bypass certain security features so that the FBI can more easily hack into the phone! That's totally different.
More insultingly (but predictably), the order dismisses any effort on Apple's part to fight for the data security of its users as a "marketing" issue to protect its brand name rather than actual concern about privacy rights.
All I can say to that, as an iPhone owner, is thank God somebody here is concerned the accessibility of my private, personal data. Because clearly the DOJ, based on the condescending and arrogant way it is responding to Apple's concerns, does not.
Read the DOJ's filing here.
