The White House Says the FBI Is Not Requesting an iPhone Back Door

One of the most controversial topics regarding Apple right now is related to a court order that was issued by a judge in California on Tuesday, which forced the company to unlock a certain iPhone 5c running iOS 9. The iPhone in question belonged to a terrorist who was responsible for an attack in San Bernardino, California on December 2, but unless the FBI can figure out a way to bypass the device’s security, they could trigger its auto-erasure feature thus losing all of its crucial data. In response, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook accused the government that it wants to obtain a back door to its phones, which would greatly compromise user privacy on a huge scale. He also said that he would appeal the order, which could take things further to the Supreme Court.

It’s also interesting to point out that other tech companies such as Google and Mozilla have taken Apple’s side in this dispute, with Mozilla’s executive director, Mark Surman, stating that “It’s difficult to discuss policy and precedent in the wake of horrific attacks. Yet, it remains true that asking Apple to circumvent their own security protections is a massive overreach.” On the other side of the fence, some quarters are supporting the government’s request, particularly as it comes in the sensitive context of fighting terrorism.

Speaking of the government, the White House has stated that the Department Of Justice can count on its full support and that its representatives “are not asking Apple to redesign its product or to create a new back door to one of their products. It is simply asking for something that would have an impact on this one device.” Tim Cook disagreed with the statement, saying that the tool could be used over and over again on multiple devices once it has been created.