Apple Pledges To Reject Order To Unlock iPhone Used By San Bernardino Shooter
Apple has publicly announced its fierce opposition to recent court order requested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to access the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters fearing a dangerous precedent that puts its users' privacy at risk.
"The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers - including tens of millions of American citizens - from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals," explained Apple CEO Tim Cook in an open letter that fiercely condemns FBI's attempt to force the tech giant to create a "back door" in accessing encrypted information on the smartphone as quoted by NBC News.
According to an ABC News report, iPhones are heavily encrypted device which has a number of security features that make it difficult to crack that's why FBI wants to force the Cupertino-based company to disable iPhone's multiple built-in security functions.
"We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them, but now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create," explained Cook as mentioned in a report by The Washington Post.
In the United States, people are particularly divided over giving the government extensive powers to breach user's privacy under the guise of upholding national security interests. Law enforcement agencies such as the FBI has been keen on tracking and apprehending criminals and security threats at the expense of possibly breaching the privacy of user's phone data.
